Ghost Roads
by Ria
Summary: [2.9.2001 -- Chapters 15, 16 and 17 added!] Daisuke thought it couldn't get any worse with Ken as a tutor to him. He was wrong. [Shounen-ai - Kensuke, one-side Takesuke]
1. Lessons

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

**Note:** This was for Nemesi's Kensuke Contest. If you haven't already guessed, this is a Kensuke fic which means two guys are going to eventually wind up together. Also, there's hints of Taito/Yamachi and Mimari If it's not your cup of tea, then don't drink it. Any flames will be ignored. Hope you all enjoy it, especially you Nemesi! 

**Begun:** 30th April 2001   
**Finished:** 8th August 2001 

~*~

**

Part One: Lessons

**

_In its prison of cold earth and old magic, it stirred. Eyes slid open, as it hissed angrily. The horrifying sound rasped over the rocks and crevices, heightening in pitch until any who heard it screamed in pain and agony, as their ears bled. _

It yanked at the ancient chains bonded by metal and power, which in turn bonded it to this miserable place. It had been held captive here for so long it could only dimly remember what it had felt like to be free. It hissed again, fangs aching. The chains would loosen eventually and it would taste freedom once more. 

To be free... the possibilities were endless... so many delicious victims... so many... It threw back its head and laughed, the sound painful and strangled. 

Soon it would be free. Soon. 

But for now, it planned. It waited. 

It waited. 

It hungered. 

Oh, it hungered. 

Soon... 

~*~

He was insane to be doing this. Completely and utterly insane. And he was beginning to realise that he didn't care. Despite the many disadvantages (the most obvious being that this guy was his enemy), the lessons were sometimes fun and they were great for wasting time. Not that the other saw it like that. He saw it as work. 

"No! No! No!" 

Daisuke Motomiya fought not to roll his eyes as Ken Ichijouji a.k.a. the Digimon Kaiser growled in frustration and stomped over to him. A gloved hand reached up to whip off his violet shades and Daisuke looked up to find a pair of sapphire eyes glaring at him. Rather beautiful ones actually. 

Daisuke blinked. Where had _that_ come from?! 

"_Why_," Ken said, his teeth clenched tightly, "do you _insist_ on making my life so difficult?! I should just throw you out now and return to my plans of dominating the Digital World!" 

"You won't though," Daisuke replied immediately. "If you do you know you'll regret it. That's why you put up with me after all," he added. 

"I'm beginning to wonder if I'm insane," the dictator muttered under his breath and Daisuke grinned broadly. Then he sighed as Ken straightened and returned to business. "Again," he ordered. Grumbling, Daisuke cupped his hands together and closing his eyes, concentrated. Sweat formed at his brow and he grimaced as it began to trickle down his face. Damn. His breath came in short, quick gasps and his back started to ache. But he didn't stop. 

Finally he felt it, the warm tremor of a hesitant flame. He opened his eyes to see a flickering orange flame in his cupped palm. Brown orbs widening, he continued to pour strength into the spell, building up the flame. Unfortunately he was a little _too_ enthusiastic about it and he discovered too late that he had spun it out of control. He was only able to utter a pathetic yelp as the flame leapt out of his hands and careered towards Ken. 

However it was then proven that Ken was able to take very good care of himself. Without even batting an eyelid, the Kaiser simply reached out and swatted at the flame as it neared him. It went out with an abrupt hiss, leaving only a few tendrils of faint smoke. Daisuke blinked a few times in astonishment. 

"Er... that went well?" he ventured after a few moments of silence. Ken only glared hard at him. The Keeper of Courage chuckled nervously. 

"Let me guess... do it again, only this time don't try and kill you?" 

"That would be preferable," Ken growled, still very annoyed. Daisuke sweatdropped, before resuming the correct position for the spell. A faint light washed over his face as the flame began to grow once more. "Put it out this time," Ken ordered, watching the process carefully. 

Sighing, Daisuke obediently put the flame on his left hand, before placing his right hand over the orange fire. With a deft motion he extinguished it. Neither of his hands were once burned. That was the beauty of having magic. Unless you did something disastrously wrong (thankfully almost burning your teacher didn't count) it never backfired on yourself. 

He still remembered how this had all happened, and without realising it, his mind went back along the strange road of memory... 

_It had been over a month since he had found Ken in the Digital World - or more correctly since he had almost barrelled into him - and had managed to drive the dictator into a rage. A fight had automatically ensued, and it was then Daisuke had realised that the Kaiser had a very big advantage over him - **he had magic**! It was then he had also realised that he was very out of his depth. _

He had been singed twice and had nearly caught fire four times before Ken had made the mistake of nearly hitting Veemon, whom Daisuke had refused to let Armour Digivolve. That had made Daisuke see red and it had caused his own anger to spill over... with a result none of them had expected. 

**He had caused fire to rain down on Ken!** The boy genius had only barely leapt out of the way in time, staring at him with his jaw hanging open. For his part, Daisuke had collapsed onto the ground by then, going into shock. He had been denying everything until Ken had staggered over to him, firmly telling the parts of his mind that could still think that he had just not done that. His mind had not been convinced though and neither had he. He had caused the fire to rain down and there was no denying that. 

It was then he realised that Ken was standing in front of him and, to put it mildly, he looked as mad as hell. Daisuke, naturally, had gulped hard, as he slowly met the purple shades of his enemy, that wouldn't bat an eyelid if he just killed him right there and then. 

His first thought was that he had got himself into a very bad situation. His next thought was to run and to run fast. He had actually stood up by that time and was preparing to run. However, Ken had reached out, his arm a blur, and had gripped his upper arm, ensuring that he would not be able to run. It hadn't made him feel any better. 

For some reason, the thought to apologise had crossed Daisuke's mind, a thought that had quickly ran away again. Ken was his enemy. He didn't apologise to him for anything. True, he had almost killed him somehow, but Ken had tried to kill him and Veemon first. The childish logic had seemed okay to him right then. 

So, when Ken opened his mouth to say something to him, Daisuke spoke first. "I'm not sorry!" he declared, eyes flashing and chin jutted out in proud defiance. Ken had stared at him before slowly letting go of his arm to reach up and take off his shades, so that Daisuke was then staring at eyes the colour of jewelled sapphires. After blinking a few times, Ken had finally answered. 

"If it helps, neither am I. You deserved to be burnt." Then, without skipping a beat, he continued, "Do you know how you did that?" His voice was enquiring and curious. Daisuke felt like he had been cornered and had no choice but to walk into a trap. But... it didn't seem like Ken wanted to hurt him - much. What harm could there be by simply answering his question? 

"I don't know," Daisuke answered sheepishly, not pleased as Ken stared incredulously at him. "Hey, I'm not a boy genius like you!" he snapped, trying to put as much scorn as he possibly could into the sentence, trying to offend him. But the Kaiser didn't offend easily. 

"Of course you're not," he replied offhandedly with a dismissive wave. "If you were I'd be competing against you. So you have no idea how you did that." His expression turned thoughtful, as he tapped a finger against his chin absently, blue eyes glazing over in thought. He remained like this for the next few minutes and Daisuke consequently became very bored. He sighed and began to fidget, until Ken muttered in an irritable voice, "Stop that." He stopped. 

He jumped as Ken jerked out of his thoughts and looked at him directly. "Do you realise how powerful you are?" he asked him without changing a beat. Daisuke stared at him, wondering how exactly to answer that question. Up to a few minutes ago he hadn't even known he'd been able to do that. 

He shook his head mutely and Ken ground his teeth together. "Fine. Well, you are powerful. More powerful that I ever imagined." He made it sound as if he'd always known Daiuske'd had magic. "If you practised you could nearly become as powerful as me." Daisuke gaped at that, and Ken added, "**Nearly** as powerful as me, remember." 

"So... how am I going to practise if I keep making fire rain down? I don't even know how I did it!" Daisuke protested. The idea of causing another disaster like that was not appealing. He suddenly realised how normal he and Ken were talking to each other. They sounded more like friends, or tutor or pupil, instead of enemies who hated each other. For one crazy moment the thought that he might actually get used to this had crossed his mind. And had quickly crossed out again. He and Ken - talking like friends? Never happen in a million years. 

Ken raised an eyebrow, his expression disdainful. "And here I thought you were smart." He wisely did not continue as he saw Daisuke bristle. He forced himself to remember that he was heavily outnumbered by Daisuke and Veemon - especially since Veemon could Armour Digivolve and that calling a digimon of his own would cost precious seconds. Seconds where Veemon could do serious damage to him. 

"What I mean is that the answer is obvious." He fought not to sigh as Daisuke still stared blankly at him. "You need to be taught. By some strange force of God you possess magic like myself. No one else - not even Hikari - possess power like us. So the only one able to teach you is myself." He waited for the reality to sink in to Daisuke. He didn't have to wait long. 

"Are you nuts?!" Daisuke yelped, staring at him like he had just grown another head. "You teach me?! In case you haven't noticed you've wanted to destroy me for the past few months! Why do you want to teach me?!" 

**Simply because with power like that, you could become one very powerful ally**, Ken thought, but he knew better than to tell the Digidestined leader that. Instead he said, "It would be a shame for you to remain untaught and lose all that marvellous potential." Close enough to the truth. Too close actually. 

He watched as Daisuke thought about it, dark brown eyes filled with conflicting emotions. He could imagine what they were. On one hand there was the promise of getting all that wonderful and yet destructive power controlled properly - but there was still the problem that they were enemies. **Think about yourself for once**, Ken urged him silently. **Don't think about the cause, think of yourself!** Although by thinking of himself, Daisuke was also thinking of the cause as well. If his power couldn't be controlled, he would be a danger to everyone and everything. 

Finally Daisuke looked up at him, chestnut eyes meeting azure. "I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" he said. "So when does the first lesson start?" 

Ken grinned at him, his smile cruel. "Now," was his answer. 

"Daisuke? Daisuke?! _Daisuke?!_" 

He jerked out of his memories, looking up quickly to find Ken sending a flaming look his way. He grinned sheepishly, as Ken let out one very long sigh. "Sorry," he said, not meaning it at all. "But I did it, didn't I? You can't yell at me for that!" He gave him a triumphant glance. 

Ken groaned wearily. "No," he admitted, "I cannot. Unfortunately." Things were much better when he could yell at Daisuke! The boy was so infuriating at times... which was nearly all of the time, but that wasn't the point. "I suppose that's enough for today," he said, relieved beyond belief that the day's lesson was done. "I've homework to finish." 

"'Kay!" Daisuke said brightly, hopping off the table he had been perched on. Grabbing his bag and Chibimon, he made his way towards the exit of the room. "See you tomorrow!" He disappeared out of the room, no doubt on his way to find the nearest port to get back to the real world, one that the others wouldn't know about. They didn't know about the lessons and Ken found it highly unlikely that they would ever approve. The word _enemy_ meant a lot to them. But sometimes it was hard to remember that he and Daisuke were enemies. 

Still sighing wearily, he sank into his own chair, rubbing his eyes hard. His lesson with Daisuke had exhausted him, and the prospect of doing homework was not an appealing one. But he had no choice. 

Not for the first time, he found himself thinking, _I am insane_. 

~*~

Daisuke was in the middle of battling through his Math homework when there was a hammering on his door. Startled, he dropped his pencil, before yelling, "What?!" While waiting for an answer, he dived under his bed, trying to find the lost pencil, grumbling under his breath. 

"Takeru is here!" his sister yelled. Daisuke didn't immediately register her sentence until he came out from under his bed, the pencil clutched firmly in his hand. Then he realised exactly who Takeru was. Takeru Takaishi. Yamato's brother. The same Yamato who was Jun's obsession. Jun, who would automatically pump Takeru for information on his brother until the poor boy couldn't think straight. The two of them. Together. That did not sound good. 

"Coming!" he yelled at the top of his voice, bolting from his room. He dived into the hallway to see Takeru near the door, talking with a very eager Jun. Daisuke winced softly as he heard the word 'Yamato' in the conversation. Great. He'd been too late after all. 

"Hi Takeru!" he said brightly, as he approached the two. Grabbing the blonde's arm, he added, "Bye Jun!" before automatically dragging Takeru towards his room, leaving his _very_ annoyed sister standing there, glaring at him. Oh well. He'd tell Jun where Yamato and his band were playing their next gig to make up for it later. 

"I'm really sorry about Jun!" he groaned, as he shut the door behind them. "I knew she'd pump you for something on Yamato!" He sighed and wished, not for the first time, that his sister would get over her alarming crush on the original Holder of Friendship. 

"It's okay," Takeru replied, laughing, as he unzipped his backpack to allow Patamon out. The flying digimon immediately flapped out, before going over to join Chibimon who was on Daisuke's bed, having quickly got bored at watching him do homework. The two soon started chatting, giggling and playing. Takeru and Daisuke watched them for a moment, amused, before returning to their own conversation. 

"Your sister's not that bad," Takeru continued, going to sit on his bed. "She's only got a crush that'll probably die out eventually. I mean, have you _seen_ the amount of boys that have sighed that T-shirt of hers?" 

Daisuke raised an eyebrow. "You've _seen_ that T-shirt?!" 

"I've signed it myself." Takeru sniggered as Daisuke openly groaned in despair. "She thought I was cute, I couldn't exactly refuse her!" Daisuke made a strangled sound when he heard this, almost choking. "Anyway, I think she and Yamato would become good friends if she could get over the crush." Takeru sighed as Daisuke continued to chuckle. 

"I can't believe she thought you were cute!" Daisuke chortled, as he watched Takeru turn red in embarrassment. 

"Shut up!" Takeru cried, finally having enough of the subject. He shook his head, cheeks still an interesting shade of crimson. 

"All right," Daisuke replied, still sniggering. "So why did you really come over then?" he asked, sitting down on the floor facing him. 

Takeru shrugged. "Just wanted to talk. Mainly about where you go to every evening. You don't come to the Digital World with us anymore. We need you if we're going to beat the Kaiser." He noted with interest and concern, the way Daisuke's cheeks suddenly flushed. What had that to do with where he went? 

"I - I..." Daisuke desperately tried to think of an excuse to tell him. He couldn't exactly tell him he was having lessons in magic with the Kaiser every evening! He knew none of them would approve! But... he could use the bare essentials for a good excuse... "I'm being tutored," he explained. With a quick glance at his homework, which Takeru was nearly sitting on, he added, "In Math." 

"Really?" Takeru asked, impressed. He had never thought that Daisuke was so determined to get his grade in Math up! Glancing down, he recognised the terrible scribble of figures on paper as Daisuke's actual Math homework. Picking it up, he glanced at it, not noticing Daisuke's dismayed look. "You don't seem to be having much luck with the tutor," he remarked, raising an eyebrow. "I could give you some help if you want it." 

"You will?" Daisuke asked, surprised. "Well, I'll call you if I don't have to go to the tutor tomorrow." _Fat chance of that happening though_, he thought, suddenly depressed. Takeru was really good at Math, one of the best in their class. If anyone could help him get his grade up, it was him. 

"I never imagined you'd actually willingly go to a tutor!" Takeru laughed, grinning at him. "You usually run away from anything that even looks remotely like Math!" 

_I was willing to let you tutor me wasn't I?_ Daisuke thought. _And if your tutor was Ken you'd be willing as well, especially since he could burn you to a crisp!_ "Yeah, amazing, isn't it?" he laughed in reply, plastering a fake smile on his lips. "But then, life's full of surprises, isn't it?" 

~*~


	2. Room of Mirrors

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Two: Room of Mirrors

**

_Daisuke could hardly hide his surprise as he followed Ken into the room. His eyes immediately fell upon the large array of blank monitors on the wall opposite them, unaware that they were the same monitors that Ken used to spy on them, and which also held the hidden controls that were linked to the hundreds of digimon under his control. He didn't know at all. "Wow," he whispered, looking around in awe. "This place is totally cool!" Beside him, Veemon was stunned into silence. _

Ken gave him a frosty smile. "It works efficiently enough for its purpose." It was then that Daisuke actually remembered that Ken was his enemy and that those monitors were probably used to spy on himself and his friends. The silence grew uncomfortable, neither sure what to say to the other. 

At last Ken broke the stretched silence saying, "I suppose since it is control that you lack the most, that is what we'll start with." 

"Oh?" Daisuke said, disappointed. "You mean I won't learn any nifty spells then?" Ken tossed him a sharp glance and he blushed. "Guess not then." 

"Oh, you'll learn them eventually," the Kaiser replied smoothly. "But without control you can't learn anything." He turned toward Daisuke, who looked much more happier now that he had learned he would eventually learn to throw fireballs. If Ken had actually heard what type of spells he wanted to learn, he probably would have fainted from shock and fear. 

Ken spread out his arms and said, "Toss anything at me." Daisuke stared blankly at him. 

"Excuse me?" 

"You heard me," he said without changing a beat. "Fire something at me." When Daisuke didn't automatically obey his command, he frowned. "Would you like me to fire at Veemon again to kick start you into action then?" he demanded angrily. 

"No!" Daisuke yelped in a hurry. Thinking quickly, he tried to remember exactly what had happened to him earlier, what had got to him so much that he would make it start raining fire? He remembered that Ken had fired at Veemon and that had made him mad, so mad he had got into a rage. He frowned. How could he get that mad again? 

Ken seemed to be thinking similar thoughts, for he began to taunt Daisuke. "What, cat got your tongue?" he sneered. "Hardly surprising, considering all of your so-called friends would probably collapse if they saw you actually think!" He cackled cruelly, as Daisuke struggled to think straight. 

He wasn't stupid, he knew he wasn't. Ken was just being a jerk, his usual self for that matter. He wasn't stupid, and he knew the others wouldn't act like that - or at least he hoped they wouldn't. They knew he wasn't stupid... right? Eyes narrowing, Daisuke felt the anger build up inside himself without even realising it, until it was too late and he was unleashing it in all of its terrifying glory. **Oh no**, he thought faintly, as Ken balked and hurled himself out of the way before he got hit with it. **I did it again. Ken's going to love this.**

"I see," Ken said a few moments later, standing up again and absently brushing off invisible dust from his sleeves. "It appears we're going to have to think of some other way to get you to use your power. It seems anger isn't the best of emotions to use." 

Daisuke chuckled nervously. "But it was a start, right?" He winced as Ken gave him a withering look. 

Yes, things were going just brilliantly. 

~*~

"Will you _ever_ pay attention?!" Ken howled at the top of his lungs, looking ready to hit Daisuke hard. Daisuke jerked back out of his thoughts and glanced sheepishly up at his teacher. "Honestly, you have the attention span of a gnat!" the dictator yelled in frustration. Dealing with the _media_ was easier than trying to teach a certain Daisuke Motomiya! 

"It's been said before," the redhead said meekly, hoping he hadn't driven Ken too far. He hadn't really meant to space off, but he had done so anyway. It was just hard to pay attention today, that was all. He opened his mouth to tell the Kaiser this, but the twilight haired boy spoke before him. 

"Get up," he snarled roughly, and Daisuke obediently got to his feet, wondering what Ken was going to do to him. He hoped he wasn't going to punish him or anything like that. He'd only spaced for a few minutes. He bet he hadn't even missed much. But the fear still remained in his stomach. Ken's torture tended to be extensive and not very pleasant. 

Grabbing his arm, Ken dragged him out of the room, leaving a very surprised Wormmon and Veemon behind. Veemon moved to follow them, but Wormmon wouldn't let him go. When Veemon protested angrily, all Wormmon would say, "Only humans are allowed to where they're going." Veemon only sat down on his haunches, looking worried and angry. 

Daisuke was very nervous as he struggled to keep up with Ken's brisk pace. His mind swarmed with thoughts of the different punishments Ken could do to him. None of them were very appealing. As Ken finally stopped before two large double doors, Daisuke stared at them. He had to admit, despite the morbid air that surrounded them, their design was exquisite. Botticelli himself couldn't have done better. 

As Ken opened the doors and stepped inside, Daisuke hesitated a moment before following him. When he actually _saw_ the contents of the room, he couldn't help but let his jaw drop open. He had been expecting many things. None of them had included this. Without thinking, he heard himself quote a part of a book, whose title he couldn't remember yet: 

_"Christine walked toward her image in the glass and the image came toward her. The two Christines - the real one and the reflection - ended by touching; and Raoul put out his arms to clasp the two in one embrace. But, by a sort of dazzling miracle that sent him staggering, Raoul was suddenly flung back, while an icy blast swept over his face; he saw, not two, but four, eight, twenty Christines spinning round him, laughing at him and fleeing so swiftly that he could not touch one of them. At last, everything stood still again; and he saw himself in the glass. But Christine had disappeared."_

Ken glanced at him sharply. "You've read Gaston Leroux?" he asked, looking as if he hardly believed it. "You've read the Phantom of the Opera?" 

Daisuke nodded proudly. "Yep. Good book wasn't it?" Ken couldn't answer him, stunned speechless by the fact that Daisuke Motomiya actually read books and even more astonishingly, he read _classics_! It was rather hard to believe, but he forced himself to, considering Daisuke had just quoted an entire paragraph flawlessly. 

Daisuke turned his attention to the room of mirrors that lay before him. "As far as punishments go, I've never had this one," he remarked. "Usually all I get is detention and the chance to do my homework." Ken looked amused at that, which didn't surprise Daisuke. Ken probably hadn't detention a day in his life. 

"Don't think it's easy Daisuke - I assure you it isn't. It's a lot more difficult than it first seems." A cunning smile curled the Kaiser's lips, as he watched him. "Trust me - you won't ever moan about detention after this." He fought not to laugh as Daisuke's eyes lit up at the blatant challenge. He fallen for the bait hook, line and sinker. _He's so easy to figure out. And he reacts so obviously as his buttons are pushed._

The redhead crossed his arms and met Ken's eyes directly. "So what do I have to do? How does this 'punishment' work?" he asked, glancing at the multitude of mirrors before them, trying not to feel unnerved as he saw himself in every one of them. Okay... being surrounded by himself was plainly not something he liked. 

Ken's smile turned sly. "It's quite easy - get to the other side of the room and then come back to me." The urge to laugh was so bad he felt his stomach clench in agony from holding it in. The ache grew stronger as he saw the outraged look appear on Daisuke's face. His expression showed clearly that he had been offended. 

"That's it?!" he demanded, still not sure whether to believe it or not as Ken nodded. It was so easy it felt offensive! It felt too easy... he frowned as he tried to make up his mind. He was doing it quite obviously. Besides the fact he had to, there was still his image to maintain. He wasn't going to appear a fool in front of anyone, least of all Ken! But it still felt too easy... "Fine," he said at last, reaching up to touch his goggles, perched proudly in the mass of spiky hair. Whether for comfort or good luck, he wasn't sure. "I'll do it." 

Ken hid a smile. "Of course." He knew very well that when he saw Daisuke again he would be considerably changed to what he was now. But he didn't say it naturally. He watched silently, as Daisuke walked forward, fingers reaching out to lightly touch the mirrors on either side of him. As Daisuke disappeared around a corner, he wondered if he should have said good luck to him. 

~*~

Daisuke found that going through a room of mirrors wasn't as easy as it first sounded. First, the sight of dozens of reflections around him was not a comforting one, and he quickly discovered that it wasn't a sight he particularly enjoyed. In fact, it was damn unnerving. 

He turned yet another corner and shuddered as another reflection appeared before him. He lightly touched the mirror and felt some reality come back as his warm gloved fingers touched the cool reflective glass. Yes, things were real here. He was real. The mirrors were real. The reflections were not. 

Quickly looking around to figure out where his path was, he tried to ignore the reflections that swarmed around and before him. But since they all looked like him, it was kind of hard to. As he passed a particularly large mirror, he swore as he passed by that there had been more than one figure in it. Freezing in his tracks, he whirled on his heel and walked back to the mirror. When he saw the image in it, he stiffened, chocolate-tinted eyes widening. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. 

He had been right before: there was more than one person in the mirror. There was himself... and Ken. Only - it couldn't be. It just _couldn't_ be. For a start he wasn't dressed in his normal clothes... he was... God, he was wearing... leather! It was true, although he hoped desperately that it wouldn't be real. It was tight, smooth and supple... and it flattered the right places. Daisuke felt his stomach begin to churn as he stared at it in disbelief. Altogether it was a pretty disturbing picture - but not as disturbing as the rest of it. 

Ken was behind him and Daisuke winced as he saw how closely pressed together they were. Ken's arms were wrapped around his chest and his lips were scare millimetres from his neck - and the expression on his face was of sadistic lust. And the worse thing was that the Daisuke in the mirror seemed to be enjoying it... the real Daisuke felt himself begin to shake. He didn't dare try and decide if it was from sudden attraction to the Ken in the mirror or from fear. His mind full of whirling chaos, he turned and bolted away from the terrifying mirror and the image it held. 

What was happening to him? It wasn't like him to get wound up so much over something - but that could hardly be compared to anything, could it? God, it was disturbing. Daisuke felt himself hurry down two more corridors of mirrors, not bothering to see where he was going, before stopping and leaning against one of them. He felt himself breathe a sigh of relief as his hot forehead touched cool glass. The sharp contrast helped him calm down. He felt himself sink to the floor, breathing hard, eyes firmly shut. He felt his mind unconsciously go through a few options, as to why that image had appeared before him. As the last one drifted lazily through his mind, he sat bolt upright, eyes snapping open in shock. 

No... it couldn't be. It wasn't like that. He wasn't like that. Heart thumping in his chest, Daisuke felt himself gaze at an image of himself in the mirror opposite him, brown eyes meeting identical brown eyes. Surely the image wouldn't have come... because deep down inside himself he _wanted_ it to come in real life? No... No... 

He remembered the previous day, when he'd absently remarked to himself that Ken's eyes were beautiful. At the time he'd thought nothing of it, presuming it had been because he'd been tired of the lesson by then - but what if it wasn't? What if he thought of Ken... that way? 

Daisuke felt himself gulp really hard. 

~*~

Ken was enjoying himself _very_ much as he watched Daisuke practically faint in shock from the image in the mirror. Due to his magic, he was able to spy on people, and since Daisuke was in a part of his own base, it was so easy for him. This was even better than battling the Digidestined altogether! Daisuke was so predictable! 

Ken leaned back against the double doors that barred any other digimon from entering. Even if they did manage to knock down the doors, he'd placed dozens of spells around the floor, ceiling and walls, all tumbled together. If they even brushed against one they'd be temporarily driven insane for a day. Secretly, he was rather disappointed that the digimon were so obedient and that it hadn't yet happened. It would have made a good show. 

He'd warned Daisuke that crossing this room was a lot harder than it seemed. He wasn't to blame that Daisuke was walking near the roads of insanity even at this moment. To be fair, he was only barely touching the edges, but the deeper he went the nearer he got. But it wouldn't be his fault and that was the most important thing. 

Ken blinked. But now that he thought of it, claiming that he had helped the leader of the Digidestined lose his mind had a certain appeal. Ken's expression turned thoughtful. Of course, there was also the chance that Daisuke would be smart and would fight the attack of the growing darkness. If he did, then none of this would be of any importance. Then... there was also the chance that Daisuke wouldn't. Dear God, the possibilities... 

The Digimon Kaiser felt himself chuckle, and soon the mild sounds of mirth turned into full out cackles that were his trademark. They echoed around the room, and when they reached Daisuke's ears, they seemed to be hysterical screams. 

~*~

Daisuke thought he would burst into tears, as he found himself approaching a plain brown door. He had reached the other side of the room. Standing in front of the door, he stared at it for a moment, before completely breaking down. Beating his fists weakly against the weathered wood, he felt tears sting his eyes, but vowed he would not cry. The mirrors hadn't affected him that badly - yet. 

He forced himself to take several deep breaths, practically praying he would calm down. Gradually his fists relaxed and his arms fell loosely against his sides, as he felt all of the tension leak from his body, and he felt empty and hollow for a moment. 

Ken had been right. He wouldn't complain about detention anymore, that was for sure. 

_And to think I could have been with Takeru doing Math, instead of keeping to my word and coming here to nearly lose my mind,_ he thought bitterly, glaring at the door with venom he hadn't imagined he could possess. With a shaky sigh, he turned and began to make his way back to Ken and the doors out of this nightmare. He kept his eyes on his feet for the entire time, not looking at the mirrors. Making sure he didn't look at the mirrors. When he passed by _that_ mirror, his felt his entire body stiffen, but he did not cry out. 

He did not say anything when he saw Ken come into view. Instead he wordlessly stepped up before him, his hands clenched into fists again, as he waited for Ken to speak. 

He did not have to wait long. He flinched as Ken's voice entered his ears, his tone sickeningly cheerful and triumphant. 

"Was I right? Was it harder than you thought it would be?" 

He nodded silently, before figuring it'd probably be better to answer. He didn't want to be punished like that again. "Yes," he said softly. "It was harder than I thought it would be." 

Ken nodded and continued. "Will you ever complain about detention again?" A shake of his head. "Will you ever lose attention in my lessons again?" Another shake of his head. "Good," he decided in approval. "You've learnt your own lesson then." He turned to go, and Daisuke started to follow him. 

Remembering the image Daisuke had seen in the mirror, Ken smiled to himself. It would be so very _wrong_ of him not to play with Daisuke for a few seconds only. Turning abruptly, so that Daisuke would be unable to dart away from him, he cupped the redhead's chin in his head. He stared hard into Daisuke's eyes for a moment, before smiling mysteriously, and running his hand down Daisuke's cheekbone. Laughing inwardly at Daisuke's startled and horrified expression, he turned and walked out of the room, not bothering to see if he would follow him or not. Lesson was over. Daisuke knew the way out and Wormmon would send Veemon out to him. 

Although he had to admit, as he walked through the halls, that it had been a very satisfying day in more ways than one. And he had to admit that the thought of Daisuke in leather was a _very_ nice one. He grinned again, as he imagined Daisuke's reaction to that thought. Yes, the next few days were going to be _fun_! 

~*~


	3. Strange Consequences

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**Part Three: Strange Consequences**

Takeru felt his eyes narrow as his lips twisted into frown. The object of his sights was a redhead he considered a friend, a boy who had just bolted out of the room once the bell had rung. Quickly zipping his backpack closed, the blonde slung it over his shoulder as he hurried after Daisuke, determined to find out where he was going once and for all. He didn't wait for Hikari, although he remembered later that she must have called his name or something. At the time he had been so sure she'd understand. 

_Where on earth is he going?_ he wondered, not bothering to ponder over the fact that he was technically spying on his friend. Daisuke would understand too, he'd spied on other people before against his better judgement. Of course things hadn't worked out and he'd had some amazing situations to talk himself out of, but he'd always managed it. Now he could only hope he could babble insanely like Daisuke could... 

His confusion rose as he followed Daisuke through the streets, trying to keep as close to him as possible, to avoid unnecessary traffic light changes or such, but also trying to stay as far away as he could manage so his friend wouldn't see him. He didn't want to have to explain why he was stalking him. That image was just too bizarre, even considering the way his life had been these past few years! 

He struggled not to act too obvious, not to alert any passer-by that he was doing something harmful. But the streets were crowded, and no one paid any attention to the redhead making his way confidently forward and the blonde that followed him silently. 

At last Daisuke turned left and entered a building, and Takeru nearly yelped in surprise when he read the sign overhead. The _library_?! Not to be judgmental of Daisuke, but that place wasn't often visited by him. Actually it never was. So why, pray tell, was he going in there now? 

Takeru shook his head hard, willing himself to stop acting like such an idiot. There were plenty of valid reasons as to why his friend was going in there. He probably had a school project to do or something, and everyone went to the library for research, although the Internet was a far better and quicker place to explore. And there were other reasons... all he had to do was think of them and he'd be okay. Shaking his head at his silliness, the Keeper of Hope quickly hurried up the steps and entered the building. 

It took him a few moments to let his eyes adjust to the dimness of the library after the brightness of outside. But adjust he did, and he was soon wandering the many aisles in search of his friend, mindful to look as ordinary and nonchalant as possible, not like someone who was definitely doing something wrong. But it was so _hard_! 

Ten minutes later and he was still wandering around and he still hadn't found Daisuke. Reaching up he took off his hat and ran a hand impatiently through his golden mess. He'd heard of losing someone in books, but this was ridiculous! There was no valid reason why Daisuke should be hard to find! He'd checked the comic book section, which, at first thought, had seemed to be the most likely place he'd be in, considering his near obsession with them. But he hadn't been there. Now he had only one more logical place to try before he simply started combing the place systematically. The computer section. 

The computers were stored in a small section of the library which had been turned into a makeshift room. There was funding going on at the moment to put in a proper room, but for now a flimsy room with equally flimsy walls was the temporary place of storage. Takeru approached it carefully, not exactly sure why. It wouldn't be like Daisuke would _know_ he was spying on him or anything. He could say he had come to work on a project of his own. Come to think of it, he _had_ a History project due in next week. Uh oh... 

_First things first,_ he told himself firmly. _Try and figure out what the heck is wrong with Daisuke, and **then** try and attempt your project._ Sounded like a good idea to him, although his Mom might have thought differently. The door was open and he poked his head around the door frame cautiously, unsure what he would see. The lack of clanking noises had assured him that there were few in there. But what he saw, even he wasn't prepared for. 

As his eyes focused on the only computer switched on in the room, he saw Daisuke disappear into the Digital World in a blinding light. Then the light faded and everything was silent. 

~*~

The first thing he did when he reached the Digital World was yawn and stretch his arms to their full capacity. Closing his mouth again, Daisuke rubbed his eyes leisurely. He hadn't got much sleep last night. Everytime he had closed his eyes, images of swirling mirrors and himself and Ken had come before him. He'd never drank so much coffee to stay awake before in his life. 

"Daisuke!" He looked up to find Veemon rushing up to him, eyes lit up like candles. 

"Hey buddy!" he cried, rushing up to him as well. "How've you been?" 

"Okay," the blue digimon replied, and unlike Daisuke he appeared to have got a good nights sleep. They stayed in the sun for a while, enjoying the laziness and the warmth, before Daisuke _really_ had to go for his lessons. But they had some time to dawdle. 

At last Daisuke knew he had to go. With a regretful sigh he stood up, brushing stray strands of grass from his jacket and straightening his goggles. Veemon made a plaintive expression. "Do we have to go?" 

Daisuke raised an eyebrow. "Would you rather Ken become mad and start chasing you?" 

Veemon considered this for a moment. "Let's go," he decided, bounding up and bolting in the general direction of Ken's base. Daisuke didn't bother to hide his grin as he followed him. 

It was only when they were out of sight, did the port Daisuke had just arrived in light up once more, and a certain blonde came tumbling out. 

~*~

_I don't believe this. He's **concentrating**!_ Ken only barely succeeded in hiding his surprise as he watched Daisuke twirl flames around his fingers like an expert, the orange flames changing from red, to blue, to purple and then back to orange again. _I knew he had the power. All he had to do was concentrate,_ Ken thought triumphantly, before standing up and walking towards Daisuke. The boy immediately moved towards the actions to extinguish the flames, but Ken quickly shook his head and held up his hand. "No. Don't stop." His eyes wary, the redhead reluctantly obeyed. 

Ken gave him a hesitant smile. "That's very good Daisuke. Have you been practising?" He would never admit it, but he had been realising that what he had done to Daisuke the previous day had been rather cruel. The boy had no idea that Ken was secretly attracted to him, and clearly didn't know that he himself was attracted to Ken as well, however well hidden it was. 

Daisuke's cheeks flushed slightly, as the boy sucked his head. "Sort of. I haven't managed to set anything on fire yet anyway." 

"Very good." Ken nodded. 

"It would have been very hard to explain if I had. I'm not allowed near matches, after I set Jun's hair on fire when I was seven." Seeing Ken's incredulous look, Daisuke grew defensive. "It was an accident!" 

Ken swallowed for a long moment. "Whatever you say." 

"It was!" 

This time Ken grinned. "Sure." 

"All right, she flattened my soccer ball and the matches were the first thing I found!" 

Ken burst out laughing before he could help it. 

~*~

_What the - what part of the Digital World am I in now?_ Takeru wondered, as he stood up and looked around. Nothing looked familiar. Absolutely nothing. The blonde began to regret making Patamon stay at home, instead of waiting outside the school as he usually did. Having the flying digimon around would have been good right about now. 

"Oh well." With a determined sigh, the Keeper of Hope took a step forward, and into the forest. "Might as well find out where this goes to." Not exactly the smartest thing to do when he had no digimon with him, but he hadn't exactly many choices, had he? And besides, he needed to find Daisuke. 

As he made his way through the forest, Takeru found himself wondering absently what he might find beyond this place. This wasn't a part he knew, so when he got back to the real world, he could tell the others what he'd found. They might even be able to destroy a control spire that Ken would never have thought they'd would have found! The blonde's azure eyes lit up at the thought, as he stepped out of the forest. He then realised that he hadn't met one digimon the entire time he'd been in the forest. That was extremely odd... one always met _someone_. When he looked beyond the trees, he found the reason why. 

In front of him, looming dark and forbidden, was Ken's base. 

For one very long moment all Takeru could do was stand there and gawk like a complete idiot. He'd found Ken's base. He'd found the new location. His first insane thought had been: _Wow, I'm good._ Then he'd actually recovered his senses and had decided to go up and take a closer look. 

He'd had no idea what he would see. He wasn't prepared at all. 

~*~

"I guess lesson's over for today," Ken announced, standing up. Since he had first started teaching Daisuke, he was extremely pleased with him. He'd made tremendous progress these past few days, and it appeared the trip to the room of mirrors had done him good. In time Daisuke might actually fulfil his true potential. Ken tried not to think about that... he'd had a brief glimpse of what it was, and it had both amazed and frightened him that someone who seemed so normal could wield such power. 

Daisuke immediately yawned and stretched, reminding the Kaiser that he was still just an eleven year old boy who could act incredibly stupid at times. For some reason this amused him... "Great," the redhead mumbled. "See you tomorrow. C'mon Veemon." He gently nudged his digimon, who had fallen asleep at some point. The blue creature jerked awake and glanced wildly around, before memory returned to him. 

"Oh. Okay." He hopped up and bolted for the door. This _did_ amuse Ken. It appeared Veemon didn't trust him anymore than when he'd first arrived here. Well, he didn't have any reason to, really. 

Just as Daisuke had reached the exit, Ken spoke. "Good work Daisuke. Very good work." The two enemies stared at each other as moments filtered by. Then Daisuke nodded, and gave him the barest hint of a smile, something unreadable in his cinnamon eyes. Then he turned and left the room, leaving Ken to stare unseeingly at the wall opposite him, wondering what the hell was happening to him. 

~*~ 

Daisuke found himself humming as he left Ken's base, Veemon dashing off to do whatever digimon did when they met long grass. For some reason he was in a really good mood. It had been a good lesson - a _tolerable_ lesson and that was saying a lot, considering his teacher was Ken - and he had enjoyed it. Maybe the fact he'd done something right for once and hadn't tried to kill Ken was the reason. Without realising it, the Keeper of Friendship grinned. 

As he walked, knowing Veemon would eventually catch up to him, he was aware that there was something twinkling at the very edge of his vision, succeeding in annoying him greatly. Finally annoyed too much, he turned and spotted it fully - or spotted the twinkle in gave off in the sunlight. Frowning, he went to investigate, never dreaming of the consequences it would bring. 

It was... something silver maybe... Gritting his teeth, Daisuke leaned down and rummaged through the grass, trying to get a firm grip on whatever it was. First there was nothing much helpful and then - "Ow!" he yelped, yanking his hand back and staring at it in shock and wonder. His hand had caught at something and now his glove was ripped. In fact, it was ripped so badly and so deeply that his own palm was bleeding now. Grimacing, he tore off his glove and stared at the scarlet blood that welled up from the cut and spread across his palm. 

"Great," he muttered, rummaging in his pockets for anything to stop the pumping blood flow. Finally finding a scrap of cloth, he held it up to his hand, hoping it would keep the flow at bay until he got home. Yelling at Veemon to hurry up, he quickened his pace towards the direction of the port. 

He never realised that by cutting his palm and releasing his blood, that he had began something unimaginable. He never once thought that it might have been planned by someone deliberately. As he disappeared into the forest, he never realised he had been seen as well, by a certain blonde who had watched him come out of Ken's base and who wanted answers. He didn't realise any of it at all. 

It wasn't until much later that he remembered he hadn't found the object in the grass. 

~*~

_What Daisuke hadn't realised, was that some of his blood had slid out of the cut and down into the grass. It slid down the stems, never once weakening in any way. It almost seemed like it was following some silent order - and there was nothing to suggest it wasn't either. _

It met with the earth and sank slowly into it, journey deep into the rot and the darkness. Making it sway down deep below, it followed the call. Down it went... until it finally landed on dead, bloodless lips. 

As it stopped on them, nothing happened for a moment - and then the lips moved. They moved, capturing the blood on them and quickly swallowing it. Seconds later, emerald eyes snapped open, searching the darkness around it, in its despairing dungeon. 

It had tasted blood. It would taste more. 

It moved and its chains were just a little bit weaker, not as strong as they usually were. 

It was just a little more free than it had been. 

There was still hope. 

Someone had slashed their skin against its brooch above... and they would do it again. A cruel smile curling it slips, it closed it eyes and sent out the call. 

It would have blood. 

It hungered. 

Soon... 

~*~


	4. Accusations and Arguments

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**Part Four: Accusations and Arguments**

It was the next day, and school had just been let out. Daisuke stepped out of the building that held himself and so many others like him captive for a rather large amount of time each week, when they could be doing far more useful things, like sleeping, soccer and saving two worlds. Just the average things other kids did. Yep. The moment he stepped outside, he found himself nabbed by some friends he knew from soccer and was roped into a game. 

As the minutes passed, Daisuke found himself forgetting rather quickly about his lessons with Ken. In fact, he forgot about everything except the black and white ball he was running after. As he watched, a member of his team kicked it wildly and he raced after it, intending to catch it before it went out onto the road. 

But he didn't catch it. 

Someone else did. 

"Hey thanks!" he called, racing up to the boy who held the soccer ball in his hands. As he neared him however, he realised it was Takeru, and he was looking at him rather strangely. Instantly Daisuke found himself hurtled back into memories: 

_It was the first day of school, and Daisuke and the others, desperate to put off that moment where they had to go inside to face those dreaded people called teachers for as long as possible, were playing a game of soccer. Without realising it, Daisuke found he had kicked the ball too hard and it went skidding away. Trying to ignore the jeers and taunts from the other guys, he went after it. _

He discovered a blonde guy with a white hat had caught it, and as he neared him, he found the blonde was looking at him rather strangely. As he stopped and waited for the guy to give him the ball, the blonde frowned and said uncertainly, "Tai?" 

"Huh?" Daisuke stared back at him, wondering if he'd lost his marbles. Then the moment ended, as the blonde laughed and tossed the ball back at him. 

"Sorry," he said. "Must be the goggles." Then, suddenly aware that the other players were getting rather impatient and were rather vocal about it, Daisuke gave him one last curious glance, before turning and kicking the ball towards the others, before racing back into the game. 

He'd found himself thinking about the blonde for a while afterwards. He'd found out later that his name was Takeru, and that he knew Hikari. He'd been insanely jealous about it for a while, but had eventually got over it. He'd become closer to him than he'd ever thought he would (saving two worlds did that to you) and they'd become friends... 

"Hey Takeru," he said, slowly to a walk. He held out his hands for the ball, but Takeru didn't give him the ball, instead continuing to stare at him. Was it his imagination, or was Takeru's look becoming a glare? "What's up?" he asked uncertainly, fully aware that the other guys were yelling at him to hurry up. 

Takeru's stare lasted for another moment, before he did something Daisuke wasn't prepared for at all: he laughed. Only it was a normal laugh that was purely Takeru's, but it was a false laugh. A bitter laugh. A sarcastic laugh. Daisuke felt his confusion grow by the minute. 

"What's up?" the Keeper of Hope echoed. "Nothing much." He glared at Daisuke. "I didn't expect you to be here. Shouldn't you be at your lesson with _him_?!" If it was possible, more anger flooded his face. 

For a second all Daisuke could do was stare blankly at his best friend, before the full impact and meaning sank in and he gasped, his cheeks colouring. His first thought was: _Oh no! Ken's going to **kill** me!_ Then he realised what part Takeru had played in this, and his eyes widened. "You - you know?" he whispered, horrified. 

Takeru nodded grimly, his face pale with anger and his lips drawn in a tight smile. "You bet I know!" he hissed, feeling more angry than he had been in a long time. "Daisuke, how _could_ you?" 

"Takeru you can't tell _anyone_!" Daisuke whimpered in a panicked voice. "If Ken finds out you know..." He couldn't bear to finish his sentence, his face twisted in anguish. 

Takeru laughed, the sound more like a cackle. "Why shouldn't I tell anyone?" he demanded. "They have the right to know that _you're with the enemy_!" 

"Takeru listen to me!" Daisuke begged frantically. "_You can't tell anyone!_ Please, in the name of our friendship, don't say anything! You don't know what Ken can do..." With a shudder he remembered the 'punishment' Ken had given him only a few days before. 

"Then why are you with him?!" Takeru cried, then hurriedly lowered his voice. He quickly tossed the ball at the other players and the game resumed without Daisuke. "Are you _helping_ him?!" He couldn't keep the hurt and betrayal out of his eyes and voice as he watched Daisuke carefully, looking and praying for a sign that his guess was wrong. 

Daisuke uttered a strangled cry, grabbing onto Takeru. "No! No, no, no! Not like that! I wouldn't help him with that! I'm still a Digidestined!" The redhead looked appalled that Takeru would even _suggest_ such a thing. 

"Then what are you doing with him?" his friend asked, looking confused. 

"I'm - he's - well..." To Takeru's amazement, Daisuke blushed. "He's - he's - he's giving me magic lessons!" Daisuke was ashamed to feel his cheeks flood with colour. This was so _embarrassing_! 

"He's _what_?!" Takeru openly stared at the Keeper of Courage in front of him, secretly wondering if Ken had warped Daisuke's mind. "Are you _serious_?!" 

Daisuke sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes. "Come on," he muttered, yanking Takeru away with him. Over his shoulder he called, "See you later guys!" He paused in his dragging away of Takeru only once, to pick up his backpack. "Chibimon's at home today," he informed Takeru. "He doesn't like going to Ken's much." 

"I can only imagine why," he replied dryly, noting that Daisuke ignored that very well. 

Daisuke only stopped when they were a safe distance away from any people. He stopped, placing his hands on his hips and looked thoughtful. Takeru waited a moment, and when Daisuke didn't say anything, spoke up. "So why are we here?" 

"Shh!" Daisuke hissed, waving an irritated hand at him. He looked annoyed. "The library," he decided suddenly. "Yes, that's where I'll show you." 

"Show me what" Takeru asked, but Daisuke was already walking away in the direction of the building. Sighing heavily, Takeru followed him. _I'm beginning to see why curiosity killed the cat._

They were once more in the computer room as before, only this time they were together and there was no one spying on the other. The room was empty, and Daisuke made sure to shut the door and lock it. He only said briefly, upon seeing Takeru's startled look, "We don't want any interruptions." 

Takeru was beginning to get a very bad feeling about this. 

"What are you doing," he asked hesitantly, but Daisuke refused to answer. Instead he walked right up to Takeru, so close there noses were touching. For one wild moment Takeru thought Daisuke was going to kiss him. 

_What?!_ his mind shrieked at him. _Where'd you get **that** from?!?!_ He did not think of Daisuke like that, he did not think of Daisuke like that, he did not - 

He found that he did when Daisuke placed his hands on either side of his face and looked into his eyes. He also found he could hardly breathe. "Daisuke," he whispered, his heart pounding and his blood rushing in his veins. He leaned in towards Daisuke - 

- and nearly had a heart attack when Daisuke disappeared and he nearly fell forward! 

~*~

_The power! _

It writhed in its grave of stone and magic, hardly able to believe so much power would soon be under its control! This young being wielded so much power. So much power! And, soon, it would be used for it, and only it. Not for that so-called dictator. 

All for it. 

All for it. 

It licked its lips hungrily. 

Yes.... 

Oh yes. 

**All for it.**

Soon... 

Very, very soon... 

~*~

Takeru fought not to yelp as he felt himself pitch forward, as he searched frantically through empty air. But Daisuke was gone. But he couldn't be! That defied every law known to man. People just couldn't disappear like that! But if they couldn't... where was Daisuke? 

The bad feeling was getting stronger. 

Then he turned around for some unknown reason and nearly screamed as Daisuke appeared in front of him, looking flushed, breathless and very excited. 

"Did you see that?!" he asked eagerly. "Oh, wow I did it!" He paused in his gleeful revelations when he saw the expression on Takeru's face. "What's wrong?" 

For one very long moment, the Digidestined of Hope could only stare at the redhead in front of him. When he managed to speak, his tone was extremely angry. "What's _wrong_?!" he hissed. "Oh, not much, except that you nearly gave me a heart attack back then! Didn't you even _wonder_ if I'd be alarmed that you suddenly disappeared?!" 

Daisuke instantly looked ashamed. "I'm sorry," he replied miserably. "I didn't even think I'd be able to do it. Ken only mentioned it in passing once - I don't think he even knew I'd be able to do it!" 

It was then that Takeru realised truly what Daisuke had done - and turned white. "You... you really disappeared," he whispered, his eyes widening. "God Daisuke - you were telling the truth." His swallowed hard, looking at Daisuke like he had two heads. 

"What's wrong?" Daisuke repeated, shifting nervously from foot to foot and looking uneasy. He didn't like the way Takeru was looking at him... 

"You disappeared..." Takeru whispered, beginning to shake. He didn't understand what was happening to him, everything was so confusing. He didn't really know why he was overreacting - he had seen far worse things in his time. But none of them were quite the same as this. None of them had involved his friend having unnatural powers. Still trembling, Takeru began to back away. This, mingled with his sudden new feelings towards Daisuke, weren't reacting well with each other. He literally, couldn't deal with it. 

"Takeru," Daisuke said with a concerned look. He took a step forward, arm outstretched to touch him. Takeru snapped. 

"No!" he yelped, panicking. "I'm sorry, it's just.... I'm so, so sorry!" And with that he whirled on his heel and bolted from the room and from the library. 

"Takeru!" Daisuke yelled, but he was already gone. He slammed his fist against the wall, feeling bitter tears well up in his eyes. Everything had gone wrong, so terribly wrong! He deeply regretted saying or doing anything now, but with what Takeru now knew, he'd had no choice. 

With that a dead weight sank in Daisuke's stomach and he stared blankly at the dark computer screen with worried eyes. A more pressing matter was now at hand: would Takeru tell the others what he was doing? 

~*~


	5. Giving Advice

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Five: Giving Advice

**

Daisuke was not in a good mood. 

He shuffled through the long grass, his hands stuffed into his pockets and his back slouched. The miserable expression on his face had already alerted several digimon whom had seen him pass. Daisuke did not act this way often, that they all knew well. But right then and there, Daisuke didn't care how he acted. 

It felt odd to be walking through the Digital World alone. As he had told Takeru earlier, Chibimon was at home now, either stuffing himself with food that was in Daisuke's room or asleep in his bed. Both things the digimon liked to do. And here he was, walking towards a person he didn't really want to see right now and a lesson he didn't want to have. Oh yes, life was just so fair! 

He dragged himself through the waist-high strands, really wishing he was somewhere else, or more to the point, that he was someone else. It was a lot more preferable to being Daisuke Motomiya right now, that was for sure. He stopped for a moment, lifting his head to the skies and letting the wind run through his hair, twisting the red strands to their will. He felt like a leaf in the wind sometimes - being yanked and pulled to everyone else's desire. It was like he couldn't do what _he_ wanted. Ever. 

He frowned for a moment, brown eyes narrowing with sudden realisation. Even though Ken was giving him lessons, and in theory, they were working together, he was still at his every beck and call. The lessons suited _Ken's_ time and energy - it didn't matter if Daisuke had other things to do. He'd missed out on so many things by coming to these lessons, so many meetings and everyone was starting to become suspicious: Takeru had proved that. 

Why should he do it then? He had things to do for once, and he was already late. Sure Ken'd yell at him for not showing up, but he'd yell at him if he came now as well. There was no way to escape it. Yes, that was what he'd do. He'd show Ken that he couldn't boss him around! 

With a defiant toss of his head, Daisuke turned and walked back the way he'd come. 

He was once more wading through the long grasses when he remembered the silver object he'd seen before. A frown once again creasing his lips, he turned and looked around the grass critically, trying to remember where he'd seen it. Yes... that was where it had been, wasn't it? Feeling as if he was doing something right for the first time in a long time, he made his way over to the spot, groping through the grasses determinedly. 

He fingers brushed something solid and cool. With a leap of joy, his hand closed around it - and something hurt. Hurt a lot. With something between a cross and a yelp, Daisuke hauled his hand out of grass and stared at it in amazement. 

The silver brooch had cut through his glove again, so deep it had cut deeply into his palm, deeper than before. Blood gushed through the yellow material, and Daisuke could only stare at it in dismay. Then he turned his attentions to the brooch and he promptly forgot the pain and the blood. 

It was a beautiful brooch, pure silver, despite the speckles of red that had come from being nestled in his wound. The reason for having received the wound in the first place was the long, curving spikes that decorated the edges of the brooch. In the dead centre was a large ruby that glimmered and shone in the sunlight. Daisuke stared at it mesmerised. 

And then... he couldn't quite explain it later, but he felt like it had been a caressing, velvet voice that spoke of the seas and the deserts and the skies and the forests, that whispered to him. _Put the brooch on..._

And he did, his fingers fumbled as he slid the pin through the material and clasped it back on, with fingers that had dried blood on them. And it was only when the clasp was tightened securely, did he seem to snap out of whatever trance he had been in, and stare in surprise at the brooch he couldn't remember putting on. 

And deep in the ground, something laughed. The laughter wasn't human. 

~*~

_The Ghost Roads have been there since the world began. Legend claims that they were there when our world was still gases and non-solid. They say it was the link between heaven and hell then. This is where those who cannot go to either realm reside, walking endlessly on roads that never end until they are permitted to heaven or damned to hell. They do nothing but walk, remembering. Remembering their human lives so clearly it hurts them. It hurts them so much. _

The roads they walk upon can hardly be seen, as they are covered in shrouding grey mists that spin and curl around them as they walk, their minds blank and their eyes dull. Most of them now realise they will walk there forever, just on the roads, as they have given up hope. Others just begin to believe this is their final step before going into hell. They refuse to believe in heaven anymore. The few that still believe they will be saved are far and few between. But they refuse to give up. 

A man walks upon the roads. Dressed in the garb of his time and station, the faded leather uniform of a warrior, he walks, his booted feet making no sound in this world of greyness. His blood red, spiked hair waves gently in the breeze, as he walks. His skin is eternally tanned, the caramel colour been there when he was born. It was still there when he died. 

His eyes are the deepest brown imaginable. Once they were sparkling and shining with life. He had everything - fame, a modest fortune, adoring women, an occupation he could never fail in. But then, that all ended when he met **it**... 

Now Daiseus walks, his eyes grim, hard and cold, full of anger and a hatred he can only barely understand. His sword is buckled at his waist, as is his axe. His many knives, daggers and other equipment are hidden in various parts of his uniform. It all ended when he met it - the vampire. 

He, with his dark hair, pale skin and emerald eyes. He, with his voice that spoke of all the places he had never seen or been to. He, who seduced him and promised him all the things in the world. And he who gave him his gift, the Kiss of Death. 

Now Daiseus walks the Ghost Roads, unwillingly to go to heaven and unwilling to go to hell. He stays in the Ghost Roads for one purpose alone: revenge. He knows someday someone will find a way to kill the vampire. And when he does, Daiseus will be ready and waiting for him. 

And Daiseus will prove to him there are worse things than death. 

~*~

The ceiling was entirely white, the colour running smoothly with no hint of a break anywhere. Whoever had previously painted it had done one hell of a job. This was one of the thoughts that ran rampant through Takeru's mind, as he stared vacantly up at the ceiling of his room, his mind only barely on the subject of the paint. He was much more concerned about the groaning heap of responsibility Daisuke had dumped onto his lap. How was he supposed to keep this a secret from the others, when Daisuke could end up hurting them, unintentionally though it might be? 

Daisuke was his friend. He couldn't betray him and tell the others his secret... but hadn't Daisuke kept it from him for weeks? If he hadn't followed Daisuke this afternoon, he still wouldn't have known about it! He didn't owe Daisuke anything, and the others deserved to know. But he couldn't blame Daisuke for being afraid and freaking out. He couldn't blame him for begging him to keep it a secret. None of the others would be happy to learn Daisuke had been with Ken. 

Daisuke and Ken. The very thought made his stomach queasy, even though he knew they hadn't been together _that_ way. Ken was only teaching Daisuke. He wasn't doing... anything else to him. Daisuke would have been far more defensive about it if they had. He hoped. He didn't know what to believe anymore. But what he was beginning to suspect, was that he had one _hell_ of a crush on Daisuke. This was not good. 

_Maybe I should have a talk with Yamato_, Takeru thought miserably. _With Taichi as his boyfriend, he'd have lots of advice._ The blonde and brunette had officially been an item for over a year now, but they all knew the two had been beating around the bush about it since they had been in the Digital World all those years ago, and had been first discovering their feelings for each other. _Yes, that what I'll do,_ the younger blonde decided. _Yamato will know what to do._

As if hearing his thoughts, the doorbell rang. Hauling himself off of the bed, Takeru padded through the apartment he and his mother shared and opened the door, to see Yamato standing there. Takeru blinked. "Fancy seeing you here." 

Yamato raised an eyebrow. "Not exactly the greeting I was expecting. My visits aren't becoming that irregular are they?" 

Takeru snapped out of his daze. "No, it's nothing like that. I was just... I was planning on going over to see you right now, and you came... and that's basically it." He stepped back and opened the door wider to allow his older brother to come in. 

"Ah, the amazing power of coincidence," Yamato remarked as he stepped inside. "It's great, isn't it?" He looked around at the immaculate apartment with incredulous eyes. "How does Mom manage to keep this place so _clean_?! Dad would have a fit." 

"Yeah," Takeru agreed. "One of the benefits of living with Mom. At least my future college roommate wouldn't be able to accuse me of being a slob!" He made a weak grin at this. Yamato was instantly on red alert. Takeru _never_ made weak grins. 

"So," he said slowly, walking over to a chair and settling down on it. "Is there anything you want to talk about with me?" 

_God, do you want a list?_ "Well, there is something I want to talk to you about," Takeru replied hesitantly, sitting down on a chair near his brother. He stared down at the floor with a fixed expression in his eyes. 

Yamato waited for him to continue, and when he didn't, gently prodded him. "And that is?" 

_Can I tell him this? What if he'll laugh at me? But what have I got to lose? It's not like Daisuke **really** likes me._ "Well... there's someone I like. But this someone doesn't know that I like them. And even if they did, they probably don't like me." He was very careful not to be a gender on "this someone". No use giving his brother an early hint yet. "And... I don't know whether to keep these feelings to myself or tell them." 

For a moment Yamato didn't reply, deep in thought. Takeru squeezed his eyes shut and began to imagine all the terrible things Yamato would say and do to him about this, as a teasing brother. It never occurred to him that Yamato would understand, and probably already knew. Takeru didn't realise he hadn't been exactly subtle about his feelings towards his best friend. 

Then Yamato began to speak. "So, in other words, you've a desperate crush on Daisuke and you don't know whether to tell him about it or not." At his younger brother's stunned look, Yamato smirked and began to laugh. "What, you think I haven't noticed?!" 

"You - you knew?!" Takeru answered in a hoarse whisper. He felt like he had just been punched in the stomach. Yamato knew? He _knew_?!?! Hold on, if he knew then what about- "Who else knows?!" he demanded. 

"Well, there's me and there's Taichi. Don't worry, no one else knows precisely what signs to look for." Yamato smiled. "Calm down Takeru, it's no big deal. Taichi wanted to drag you two into a room and lock you in there until you told Daisuke your feelings for him. Luckily, I managed to talk him out of it." This time both brothers grinned. That seemed like something Taichi would do all right. 

Takeru let out a deep breath and rubbed his forehead. This hadn't been the greatest of days, that was for sure. He felt like his head was going to explode from everything he'd found out. "So, what do I do? Do I tell him or keep it to myself?" 

Yamato stared at him. "Are you mad? You have to tell him! If you don't, it'll eat you up until you end up blurting it out to him in a very wrong way." Yamato grimaced. "Trust me, I speak from experience." When Taichi had finally found out about Yamato's feelings for him it had been a very embarrassing situation for Yamato, since Taichi had been on a date at the time... with a girl. He'd been very lucky that Taichi had returned his feelings. 

Takeru sighed reluctantly. "I guess you're right," he said doubtfully, not looking very convinced at all. 

Yamato stared very hard at his brother, and then stood up. "Look, it seems to me that you need to think hard about this, so I'll leave you alone. If you need any more advice you know where I am." Smiling, he turned and left the apartment quietly. 

Takeru turned his attention to the ceiling of the kitchen. There was no break here either. 

~*~

_It tossed restlessly in its prison, writhing from the sheer glory of the power it felt. Oh the power! It shrieked in pain and in amazement. The power this boy held was incredible! And soon, it would be under its control. All under its control. _

Emerald eyes gleaming, it tilted its head upwards, towards the sky, hidden by the many feet of earth above it, pressing down on it. Emerald eyes burning with an inhuman flame, the vampire sent The Call: Follow me, young one. Follow me and trust me. Trust me and obey me, pretty one. Follow me... follow me... follow me into hell... 

~*~


	6. Mist and Dreams

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Six: Mist and Dreams

**

_Daisuke knew this was a dream. It was simply too bizarre and surreal to be real. He was in a place of mists. The strange essence that was neither air nor liquid curled around him, grey fingers almost caressing him as he moved forward. He had no idea where he was. But still he walked. _

The mists seemed to whisper to him as he walked, hundreds upon hundreds of voices that merged, fought, melded and argued in their haste to reach his ears first. Soon they were so loud and insistent that his ears hurt. When he slapped his hands over his throbbing ears and moaned at them to stop, they paid him no heed. 

"Daisuke beware!..." 

"Beware the dark man!..." 

"He who may seem like an angel..." 

"...may be a devil in disguise...!" 

He groaned helplessly, begging them to stop, but his voice was swallowed up by theirs, and not a plaintive whisper was heard. He tore at his hair mindlessly, feeling as though he was going mad. Why wouldn't they stop? **Why wouldn't they stop?!** Flinging back his head, he screamed. 

The voices stopped. 

He fell to his knees in surprise. It took him several moments to gather the courage to take his hands away from his ears, large cinnamon eyes darting around the mists wildly. Hesitantly, he stood up. 

Then a wonderful voice, a rich, smooth voice like coffee reached him. A voice that radiated warmth and tenderness and places he'd never seen. A voice that beckoned him forward before he even realised it. 

"Come my Daisuke. Come and I will guide you." 

He was moving before he realised he was, legs moving as if of their own accord. He wandered through the mists helplessly, wishing he had a light with him, or at least was walking towards one. Then... a light appeared. 

He froze, feet stopping in their tracks. He stared at the winking beam in stunned silence. His first thought was that it was a trick. A few minutes of staring at it proved this was not so. His second thought was that it was a trap. But he wasn't sure. And he would never know for sure, unless he went to the light. 

The voice came again. "Walk towards the light." 

He walked towards the light. 

His steps made no sound as the golden guide drew nearer and nearer. For some reason the wondrous light made him feel very sleepy, almost hypnotised. He yawned many times and had to literally scrape his knuckles back and forth across his eyes to prevent himself falling down and going to sleep. He didn't **remember** himself being this tired at the start... 

He was so tired... His legs felt as if there was lead attached to them, they were so heavy to lift. His eyes were getting harder and harder to keep open. He couldn't stay like this for much longer... 

As he came closer to the light, he realised it wasn't normal. It wasn't in a lamp or anything like he had first thought. The light was a part of the mists. It lit up the greyness in a brilliant radiance, emitting golden rays. It was calling to him... calling to him... He had to reach it... 

He gasped as warmth coursed through him, when he stepped into the path of the light. It filled him, causing such feeling to rush through him. His knees buckled, but he struggled forward, deeper into the gold. It surrounded him, before brightening to unbearable levels. He screamed as he flung his arms up in front of his eyes, as it exploded around him. 

When it cleared, he was standing in a ballroom. People swirled around him, women in their gowns that rippled and swirled around their slim bodies in rivers of colours, and men in their dress suits of black and shirts of white. All wore masks to hide their identity. 

They danced around him, ignoring him until a woman in a gown of shimmering light-blue silk, gently pushed him forward from behind. He stumbled into the crowd and was quickly lost in the dancing throngs of people and colour, unable to find his way out. 

It was difficult to find his way through it. More than once he was yanked into the dance, twirled and shoved around despite the fact he stuck out like a sore thumb. At last the dance ended and he was left standing on the dance floor, alone. Butterflies began to flutter nervously in his stomach as he looked around. All eyes were on him, watching him silently. He gulped. 

Then he heard a faint murmur run through the crowd, before the large body of people parted before him, the murmur still faintly rippling, afraid and insistent. For **he** was coming! Daisuke felt his throat tighten as he watched, his brown eyes wide. 

His cloak swirled around him, dark as night and acting as if it was a human being itself. It framed a tall man, with pale skin, soft-looking ebony hair and eyes as green as emeralds. He wasn't dressed entirely in black as Daisuke had expected from looking at the other men, but was wearing a velvet shirt of a dark, dark red. A red so dark it seemed almost black. 

Daisuke thought he would faint. 

His footsteps were silent as he walked towards him, and Daisuke literally felt like he couldn't breathe, as he stared at him. When he stopped, they stared at each other, eyes unreadable and emotions twirling frantically in emerald and cinnamon depths. And then the man reached out and took hold of Daisuke's hands. "Dance with me," he whispered, and before the redhead could react in any way, he was. 

"Dance with me forever my love," he crooned, as they whirled around. Daisuke began to feel dizzy, as the world dissolved and melded around him, and everything became distorted. "My pet, my sweet. Be mine. Be mine and dance with me forever." 

Something was taking over Daisuke, something he couldn't understand. But he wasn't afraid, no, instead he was excited. Something new and strange was happening, and he was determined to enjoy it. There was no point in being afraid. 

"Your answer," came the caressing whisper, as lips touched his neck in feather light kisses. 

Daisuke whimpered, and with a great effort, spoke in a hoarse voice; "Yesssss..." 

His eyes closed. 

~*~

His eyes opened, as Daisuke sat straight up in bed, his heart hammering in his ears and panting. Cold sweat clung to him, and he found himself suddenly very cold. He gathered his blankets around him and shivered, even though his room wasn't cold. 

"D'suke?" The sleepy voice made Daisuke look down, as Chibimon crawled up beside him and nuzzled his hand. "Are you okay? You weren't sleeping well -- you nearly kicked me!" The unintended accusation in the blue digimon's voice cracked a smile on Daisuke's face, as he reached over and brought his partner to his chest. 

"I'm sorry Chibimon," he murmured, rubbing the little digimon absently. "I just had a bad dream, that's all." As if proving this, he shuddered. 

"Why are you cold?" Chibimon wondered. "It's nice and warm in here!" Confusion lit up the gentle red eyes, as he looked at his human. 

"A bad reaction, that's all," Daisuke murmured, as he dropped Chibimon down onto his pillow, and dropped down beside him again, pulling the blankets up near them. "'Night Chibimon." 

"'Night D'suke," his digimon replied groggily, and after a few seconds of snuggling into the pillow and blanket he fell asleep instantly. 

Daisuke, on the other hand, did not fall asleep so easily. He lay awake for a long time afterward, staring up at the ceiling. The streetlights were reflected from the window onto the wall and if one looked close enough, they could see the worry glimmering in Daisuke's soft brown eyes. 

"Just a bad dream," he whispered to himself. "That's all it was. That's all it was." Whispering this quietly to himself over and over again, he fell asleep, but it was not a calm slumber. A green-eyed devil hunted him now, in swirling mists that wanted to capture him... 

Was it just a dream? 

~*~ 

A little way away, another boy couldn't sleep. Takeru tossed and turned restlessly, before propping himself up on one elbow and thumping his pillow vigorously. This did little to appease him however, as he let out a heavy sigh when he lay down again. 

His thoughts were full of a certain redhead and the secrets he had given him. Takeru couldn't help but feel sorry for Daisuke, even though he was mad at him too. Daisuke had had no right to put such pressure on him and force him to keep all those secrets. It wasn't fair on anyone, least of all him! 

_What should I do?_ he thought miserably. His own digimon slept on, blissfully ignorant of the troubled thoughts his human silently harboured. _Should I keep my promise to Daisuke and not tell the others - or should I keep my duty as a Digidestined and warn the others?_ He sighed, dragging his knuckles across his eyes hard. _And do I take Yamato's advice and tell Daisuke about my feelings for him, or do I play it safe and keep them to myself?_

He had absolutely no idea and mulling over them right now wasn't doing him any good. In fact it was just making things worse. Turning over, Takeru came to a decision. _Tomorrow... I'll figure it out all tomorrow. Things always look better in the day anyway._

With this in mind, the Keeper of Hope closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. 

~*~ 


	7. Temper, Temper

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Seven: Temper, Temper

**

"Where the _hell_ were you yesterday?!" The first thing that alerted Daisuke were the words. The second thing was the icy tone in Ken's voice. That was when he knew things weren't going to go well that day. In fact, when he looked back on that particular scene and the events that followed, saying the day wasn't going to go well was a very big understatement. 

Ken had already been standing in the control room, arms crossed, waiting for him and a steely expression on his face. He could see the sapphire orbs that were Ken's eyes burn with an alarming flame. He'd done something he had told himself over and over again never to do. He'd pushed the Kaiser beyond his limit and now he was going to pay dearly. 

But he wouldn't let Ken make him cower. He wouldn't show weakness to him again. He would prove to the blue-haired genius he was just as good as him... and it looked like he was insane enough to do it. Wrenching his gaze up from the floor, Daisuke met Ken's glowering gaze directly. "I wasn't here." 

"_I know that!_" Ken snarled, and Daisuke felt Veemon lose his nerve and dive behind his legs, shivering. When Veemon lost his nerve things were very bad. "_Where were you?!_" 

"I went home," Daisuke replied coldly. "I didn't want lessons yesterday." 

"Are you insane?!" Ken hissed, taking a threatening step towards him. "Do you think I teach you for the fun of it? I have the Digital World to take over in case you've forgotten!" 

"It's rather hard to forget," the redhead said dryly, and Ken's lips tightened. The dictator's temper was rapidly rising and the punishment he had planned for Daisuke now made the Room of Mirrors look like a picnic. He'd had all yesterday and this morning to think it through. 

"You'll regret doing that and everything you've just said Daisuke," Ken told him, his voice dangerously quiet now. "No one _ever_ gets away with missing a meeting with me just because they were too lazy to come. And that's all you were Daisuke," he added, before Daisuke could interrupt, "lazy." 

Daisuke felt his teeth grit. "I wasn't lazy!" he replied shortly. "I was just sick of you ordering me around!" 

_How could I have ever thought I loved him?_ Ken wondered, as he glared at Daisuke, who glared right back. "I'm the teacher in this situation," he snapped back. "Do you act like this to your own teachers? Maybe that explains your grades!" Daisuke's cheeks burned in embarrassment and the look of pure fury he tossed at him told Ken he had gone too far. But Daisuke had made _him_ go too far, so it didn't matter anymore. 

"That's it," Ken hissed, stepping forward again. Daisuke took a step back, suddenly unsure of himself. "Once again, I must go through the tiresome routine of punishment." 

Daisuke knew what _that_ meant. "The Mirrored Room?" he asked. He could deal with that again, he knew what to expect this time. 

But Ken was shaking his head, and the smirk on his face chilled Daisuke to the bone. "Oh no," he whispered, his voice too soft. "I have something else planned this time." Daisuke began to wonder if this was such a good idea now. Ken didn't look very nice at all. He and Veemon exchanged frightened looks. 

With a cruel chuckle, Ken flicked a wrist and the scene around them shifted and dissolved, and Daisuke's stomach hurt so much, and Veemon was clinging onto him desperately, not liking whatever Ken was doing at all. 

They landed in the Digital World, and Daisuke gave Ken an incredulous look as his stomach settled again. "What did you just _do_?!" he yelped shakily, looking around. A river gushed to their left, singing over the rocks. 

"Transported you," Ken replied casually, as if that sort of thing happened everyday. Daisuke wouldn't put it passed that it actually did. "Quicker than walking or flying don't you think?" He didn't even look _tired_. It was finally hitting Daisuke that making Ken mad wasn't exactly the smartest thing he had ever done. 

"What are you going to do?" the digidestined asked, glancing around. There didn't seem to be many dangerous things here that Ken could use against him... in fact the only dangerous thing was the river... _Oh no..._ A shocked expression in his brown eyes, he turned to Ken who was nodding. 

"Guessed it, have you?" he asked. "Well, you're smarter than I first thought." He shrugged. 

Daisuke backed away desperately, making for the nearest escape as fast as he could. But he was no match for Ken's stronger power and right then he was more afraid than angry. Ken wouldn't do that to him, oh he wouldn't.... 

He could only scream as he was lifted into the air and thrown into the icy river. 

He'd never known Ken was telekinetic. The boy genius had given him absolutely no clue, probably in case he had to use his powers against him like he was doing now. Daisuke fought against the rushing current, as he broke the surface and gasped for air. The river was larger and deeper than he had first thought, and right then the current was yanking him along at a frightfully fast pace... _Grab the first thing you see that can give you a proper hold and balance._

He wasn't sure if it was his own mind talking or a vaguely familiar voice, but it knocked some sense into his head. His eyes darted around, and he swam parallel to the current towards a group of trees whose roots drifted out into the water. Grabbing onto one that looked particularly strong, he held on for dear life, trying to get enough strength to drag himself up. His thoughts were completely lost. 

_How could you do this to me Ken? I...I never thought you'd actually lose your temper so much and act that rashly. You could have **killed** me... and I...I thought I was falling for you..._

Whether it was his subconscious reacting badly to this, or something else he couldn't tell, because his back stiffened, and suddenly his grip was slipping on the tree root and he was falling back into the river with a frantic shriek. Before he sank under he thought he heard someone yell his name, but he thought it was Veemon. He hoped his partner wouldn't do anything crazy like dive in after him or anything. He didn't think Veemon could swim very well. 

It was then he realised worrying about Veemon was the least of his problems. _Something was holding him under._

He couldn't swim up and get air, because something had a pretty strong hold on him. He struggled desperately, aware that his current supply of air was rapidly getting smaller. If he didn't get new air soon he would breathe in water and inevitably drown. The prospect didn't sound appealing, non-surprisingly. But raw panic began to set in when something grabbed his neck and tried to throttle him. 

He struggled not to open his mouth, as the instinctive reaction to yell rose through him. He clawed at the invisible thing that held an iron grip on his neck, still struggling in the water. He was frantically aware his lungs were burning and he desperately needed air. Blackness was starting to tint the edges of his vision... 

A cold voice entered his mind: _How dare you have feelings for another! You are **mine**, now and forever, do you understand?_

The voice was frustratingly familiar, but he couldn't think. Whoever the voice actually belonged to, he wasn't going to agree with him, considering what he was currently doing to him. _No!_ he thought fiercely, struggling mentally and physically. _No! No! No! I'm not yours!_

_You agreed my sweet. You told me yes. You are mine. Now and forever._ The cold voice caused shivers to crawl down his spine. _But if you refuse..._ Daisuke nearly gasped as the grip on his throat tightened. Why wouldn't Ken help...? 

Then something did happen, and Daisuke allowed himself the brief fantasy that Ken _was_ coming to help him. Then it hit him -- Ken was indeed coming to help him. About time too. 

_Let him go!_ Ken's voice was sharp and cold, using the I'm-a-ruler-and-you-can't-threaten-me voice. Daisuke had never been so glad to hear that voice before then in his entire time as a digidestined. He could only freeze as an uncomfortable warmth surrounded him and something shrieked and then he was free. He finally let the adrenaline inside him take over and he swam desperately upwards, and found he had hardly any strength left. 

Then he felt a pair of strong arms grip him and drag him out of the water and onto the bank, where he lay, shivering and coughing up water, as he was temporarily lost in the sensation of still being alive. He had survived. Thank God, he was still alive. 

Then he finally realised he wasn't alone. He looked up to see Ken standing near him, watching him silently. Surprised was too weak a word to describe Daisuke's reaction as he realised Ken was _shaking_ and his shades were gone (he assumed Ken had torn them off in panic) and his gorgeous blue eyes were wide in fear. "Are you all right?" the dictator whispered. 

Daisuke nodded, still stunned. "Apart from being cold, I'm fine," he replied, his voice just as soft. _Why are you afraid for me? You just tossed me into the river in the first place!_

"Thank God." Ken walked over to him and then... slid to his knees so he and Daisuke were at eye-level with each other. "I thought you were going to drown..." Daisuke was shocked to see the haunted shadows in Ken's eyes, as if he were reliving a terrible memory. 

"Are you all right?" he found himself asking, thinking, _Well this is a change of roles. I'm asking the person who threw me into a river is **he** okay!_

"Yes," Ken whispered, looking down at the grass, and for a moment he looked so vulnerable and scared that Daisuke couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Without realising it, he was leaning closer and closer to Ken. The dictator started in surprise when he looked up to see Daisuke so near him. For moments that dragged out, they stared at each other, stared at the swirling, confusing emotions they filled them. Then Ken was leaning towards him and their lips were touching... 

The kiss was amusingly soft at first, both of them not even sure what they were doing. Then it grew deeper, and Daisuke found himself holding the back of Ken's neck to keep himself balanced. Ken was rapidly taking control of the situation, his lips fierce, warm and very demanding. _What am I doing?_ Daisuke wondered, and then his question was answered by himself. _I'm kissing Ken._ It took a few moments for the actual meaning of the situation to hit him and when it hit, boy did it hit. 

_I'm kissing Ken! Oh **crap**!_ His eyes snapping open, he tore himself away from Ken and stared at him in complete shock, panting heavily. Despite the whole craziness of it, he had to admit Ken was a damn good kisser. There was just one problem, two actually -- one, he was his enemy, and two, he had tried to drown him. And now he was kissing him. Couldn't Ken make up his mind?! 

Ken himself was breathing heavily, watching Daisuke intently. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to... do that." He couldn't say it: I didn't mean to kiss you. It seemed so bizarre. 

"No," Daisuke said quickly. "Don't be sorry... it's just... I don't know." To his embarrassment he felt his cheeks start to burn as he stared at the grass, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. It was true, he really didn't know what was gone on, he hadn't felt so confused in a long time. 

"Daisuke..." Ken began hesitantly. "Did you enjoy that?" Since when did Ken, the Digimon Kaiser, act so strange? 

"I don't know," he repeated and tensed as Ken approached him and kneeled beside him. He felt him cup his face between his hands and stare into his eyes. 

"Then let me help you decide," he whispered, and kissed him again. It stared out gentle, but then grew more deep and demanding, both trying to be the dominant, but in the end Ken winning as he expected. With a groan, the Kaiser felt his control slip and shoved Daisuke back in the grass, himself on top of the redhead and still kissing him. 

Daisuke meanwhile, had found he couldn't resist and responded eagerly, his gloved hands tangling wildly in Ken's spiked hair. His breath came in ragged gasps, his cheeks flushed and he was aware that this was wrong -- oh so wrong! -- but he didn't care anymore. All he cared about was that Ken was on top of him, and Ken was kissing him and he was doing one hell of a good job of it. He could only whimper as Ken began to kiss his neck. 

"You know," Ken said after a few minutes. "Don't take this personally, but this would be a more enjoyable experience if you were dry. Wouldn't you like to be dry?" He raised a slim eyebrow, as he regarded Daisuke. 

"Uh... yeah, I guess it would be," Daisuke replied, still blushing. Amazed that Ken could be so calm and composed as he picked himself up off of him, Daisuke looked around and caught sight of Veemon and grinned at the awe-struck expression on the digimon's face. "Don't say anything," he muttered to him as he came to his feet, and watched Ken pick up his shades. "Really." 

"Shall we?" Ken asked, glancing at him. Daisuke nodded and in a moment he and the others were transported back to the base. But Daisuke couldn't help but feel uneasy as the scenery faded around him. He couldn't shake off the feeling he was being watched -- and whoever it was, was very, very angry with him. 

But that voice was so damn familiar... who was it? 

~*~

_He snarled in his prison, green eyes burning furiously. That boy had claimed he had never agreed to be his... Daisuke deserved to be punished even worse than what that arrogant so-called ruler had tried to do to him. He would have succeeded if that Kaiser hadn't interrupted and used his new-found love for the boy against him. _

No matter. He had retrieved enough energy from Daisuke to get his strength back. Now it was time. Time to strike at last and reclaim the Digital World, as it so rightly should have been. 

With a determined air, he began to dig upwards... upwards towards the light. 

~*~


	8. Admitting the Obvious

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**Part Eight: Admitting the Obvious**

Takeru sighed and leaned back in the chair, staring at the slender girl who was sitting opposite him, her dark red eyes watching him with a light in them that wasn't normal. But then, nothing about Hikari Kamiya had ever been normal. He swallowed and said, "When are you going to stop looking at me like that?" 

She smiled then, a sweet, innocent smile that was the direct opposite to what she was. Kari had grown from her sweet little angel phase. Mimi had made sure of that. "When you tell me what's wrong. You're not yourself Takeru." She only called him by her full name when she was determined to get what she wanted. What she wanted to hear, he didn't want to tell her. 

"Nothing's wrong," he replied quietly, looking away from her. He knew well she wouldn't fall for that. Hikari wasn't stupid. 

He was right. She burst out laughing, the sound running over him like water. "Do you really expect me to believe that?" 

His answer was flat. "No." 

The laughter died abruptly. "Tell me what's wrong Takeru." He shook his head. "Then maybe I'll go to Daisuke and ask him does he know you've fallen for him." His head snapped up, his shocked blue eyes meeting hers. 

"You knew." It was a statement, not a question. 

She nodded. "You weren't exactly subtle when you were around him. It's a crime the way Daisuke is so oblivious." 

Takeru dragged his hands across his face. "I can't tell him." 

"Why?" Her voice was gentle. 

"He doesn't like me that way." 

"Are you so sure?" 

"Yes!" 

"You're not." Her voice was just as flat as his had been a moment ago. He looked straight at her and her eyes had gone hard. "You're not sure at all are you?" 

He couldn't lie to her. "No, I'm not," he admitted. 

"Tell him." There was an edge to her voice that hadn't been there before. He looked down at the table before him and wondered why he had let her in when she came over. Part of him had known that she had known, he just hadn't wanted to admit that either. 

"What if he freaks?" 

"You'll still have tried." 

"I value his friendship." 

"You'll value his love even more." 

"What if he refuses?" 

"Why would he refuse?" 

He couldn't say anymore, not without blurting out Daisuke's secret. But he knew if Hikari caught on, she'd wring it out of him even if she caused bruises to form. But he still owed them the truth... but he owed Daisuke everything that made him his friend. His heart thumping, he looked up at Hikari. There was no suspicion in her eyes at all. 

"I just... I'm freaking I guess." He looked down at the table again. 

"I'll say." He tensed at the amusment in her voice and sighed. 

"So I should tell him?" 

"Yep." 

"Are you sure?" 

"I told Mimi." 

"You knew Mimi had fallen for you." 

"Trust me: it'll eat you up if you don't." 

He didn't reply, instead sighing deeply again. When he replied eventually, there was slight fear in his voice. 

"Well when you put it like that I guess I don't have a choice do I?" 

Her smile was approving. 

~*~

Daisuke was sprawled across his bed, staring up at the ceiling without really seeing it. His eyes were half-closed and held a look in them that was somewhere between dazed and dreamy. He sighed once, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, a pair of large red eyes were staring at him. For a moment he nearly flung the little ball of blue fur away from him, before he remembered it was Chibimon. His digimon. Something not to be flung into the air. 

Chibimon watched him curiously. "Are you okay Daisuke?" the blue digimon enquired. "You seem... not yourself." 

Daisuke grinned slightly. "Yeah, I'm okay Chibi. Just thinking that's all." 

Chibimon gave him a quizzical look, and then decided it was much better to nuzzle Daisuke's chin and make him laugh. The redhead grinned and held his digimon, scratching him afectionately on the head and under the chin. Chibimon squealed happily. 

They remained like that for the next few minutes, both content. Then Chibimon broke the silence by asking Daisuke slowly, "Do you like Ken, Daisuke?" 

It was not a question Daisuke had been expecting. For a few moments he didn't know what to say, finally replying, "I'm not sure Chibimon. I think I do. Why do you ask?" 

"Just wanted to know. I know Ken teaches you things. Does that mean you like him because of that? Do you like all your teachers?" 

Daisuke blanched. "No!" he yelped. "No Chibimon... Ken is different. You don't like someone just because they teach you." 

"Oh. Okay." Plainly, Chibimon didn't understand what he was on about at all. But he knew better than to ask why that was so. Human stuff was just confusing. "You seem to like Ken a lot." 

"Yeah." Daisuke smiled dreamily. "Yeah, I guess I do." That was an understatement. 

"I thought guys kissed girls," Chibimon commented. "But Ken's a boy. Do boys kiss other boys?" 

Daisuke blushed. It had been hard enough explaining girlfriends and kisses to the little digimon. He knew this was going to be hard. "Well, people say boys aren't supposed to kiss other boys," he said carefully. "But some boys just prefer other boys to girls." 

"Like you and Ken?" 

"I guess so." To be truthful, Daisuke wasn't sure. 

"I get it!" Daisuke would have bet his entire manga collection that he didn't. 

Daisuke was just about to ask Chibimon exactly _what_ he understood, when someone banged on his door. He looked up, annoyed. "What?!" he yelled, expecting it to be Jun. His parents never banged on the door. 

He was right. "Takeru's here to see you!" Jun yelled back. 

"Send him in then!" was Daisuke's indignant answer. He heard Jun sigh heavily and walk away. Moments later a new set of footsteps approached. Chibimon prepared to freeze into his blue-fluffy-and-knowing-it stuffed toy act, but Daisuke shook his head. "It's Takeru," he told him. "You don't have to do it." He got up to open his door. 

Sure enough the blonde was standing outside in the hall. "Hey Takeru," Daisuke greeted him, noting silently that there was something up. The blonde's expression was set, something that only happened when he had something on his mind. "Patamon at home?" The blonde had nothing with him, so Daisuke assumed he hadn't brought the flying digimon. 

"Hey Daisuke," he replied absently. "Yeah, Patamon's at home." As Daisuke settled down on his bed, watching him, the blonde began to pace, looking annoyed with both himself and with something else. 

Chibimon crawled onto Daisuke's lap, giving Takeru a concerned look. "Is he okay?" 

Daisuke shrugged, eyes never leaving Takeru's pacing form. "I'm not sure." 

Takeru was muttering to himself. "...they told me to tell you...it's not my fault then...what have I to lose? Daisuke?" he asked, turning around to face him. The redhead jerked at suddenly being addressed. "Can I tell you something important?" 

Daisuke blinked. "Of course you can Takeru! We're best friends after all!" He noticed this only seemed to make Takeru feel worse. _What's wrong with him?_

"Okay." Takeru racked a hand through his hair, coming to a stop before him. To Daisuke's amazement and alarm, he began to blush, as if what he was about to say was very embarrassing. It wasn't just his cheeks, it was his entire face. In Daisuke's mind, he vaguely resembled a strawberry. "Okay..." Chibimon and Daisuke looked at each other. 

"The thing is... we've been friends for a while, haven't we Daisuke?" Takeru asked. Daisuke did not think that this was what he'd been thinking about. 

Daisuke nodded slowly. "Yeah we have... why?" 

"Well... I have something very important to tell you. It's... I think I've been feeling this way for a long time, and it's only been recently I've finally admitted it," Takeru said quickly, making absolutely no sense. He glanced quickly at Daisuke, and fought not to groan at the blank look on his face. 

"Takeru, what's going on?" Daisuke asked. "Just say it already!" 

"Fine," Takeru whispered, closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath. He looked at Daisuke again, meeting his brown eyes firmly. "The thing is Daisuke," he said softly, hoping he wasn't just about to make the biggest mistake of his life, "that I like you. A lot." 

And before Daisuke could say anything or react in any way, he leaned in and kissed him. 

~*~ 


	9. Sweet Revenge

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Nine: Sweet Revenge

**

Daisuke had always known his friendship with Takeru hadn't been your average friendship. For one thing, they were both kids who saved the world every now and then. For another, they had both been competing for the same girl -- Hikari -- a while back, but seeing as she had finally admitted she'd had a crush on Mimi for years, the competing had automatically stopped. No point competing for someone who didn't like either of them. But possibly the most important thing was... _they were just so different from each other sometimes_. 

Takeru was calm compared to Daisuke's usual hyperness, but if you got the Keeper of Hope mad, he could be just as angry as Daisuke. Takeru was the person who watched out for Daisuke and kept him from doing something stupid or saying something wrong. They looked out for each other, as that was what best friends did. 

So it seemed natural that one of them would have fallen for the other at some point or other. It was just Takeru who happened to fall first. 

Once he'd finally realised he'd had a crush on Daisuke (Yamato would have been so proud), Takeru had quickly discovered the terrible trials of having one large crush. Daisuke had been in his thoughts for most of the day. Classes had been near unbearable, the only ones giving him salvation being ones where Daisuke wasn't there. And there weren't many of them. 

And finally, he just couldn't stick it anymore. Despite being a Digidestined, he was still human, and humans weren't trained to keep secrets, not really. And you didn't keep a much bigger secret that this. So he'd finally buckled under. 

One of the few coherent thoughts left in Takeru's mind was that kissing Daisuke was very pleasant. His lips were soft, and he smelled like apricots. Takeru found himself falling helplessly to his kness, dragging Daisuke with him. The redhead put up no resistance, not even when they heard an outraged squeak that meant Chibimon had tumbled from Daisuke's lap and landed somewhere. The two paid him no heed, still trying to figure out whether they should stop for air or not...air was rather vital after all. 

Finally Daisuke pulled away, his face flushed and his eyes wide. He stared at Takeru, hardly able to believe this was happening. Takeru stared back at him, suddenly afraid and regretful of what he'd just done. Now that he actually stopped and thought about it, this hadn't been the smartest thing he'd ever done. What if this ruined his friendship with Daisuke? Hikari had been wrong: he suddenly wasn't so sure that he'd value Daisuke's love more than his friendship. 

It didn't help his already guilty conscience when Daisuke averted his gaze and said in a quiet voice, "This was a mistake." 

_No!_ his mind screamed, not able to believe this was happening. No, no, no! Daisuke had to like him, he just _had_ to! That was the way things worked -- you admitted you had the crush and the other person admitted they'd also secretly loved you... that was the way things worked. But apparently they didn't work that way for him. This couldn't be happening. It had worked for Yamato and Taichi! Why wouldn't it work for him? 

He stared incredulously at Daisuke, who had an expression of extreme sadness on his face, and realised he had just been rejected. Rejected rather bluntly. Pain flooded his face, followed by anguish, and then finally anger. No, not anger -- rage. 

"Who is it?" he asked, his voice dangerously soft. Always a warning sign with him. Daisuke frowned at him, clearly not understanding what he was on about. Takeru repeated it for him, feeling alarming anger building up inside him. Red tinted his vision as he glared at Daisuke. "Is it Ken? Is it?" 

"What are you talking about?" Daisuke asked, but Takeru could see it in his eyes. Daisuke knew what he was talking about. He knew very well what Takeru was going on about about. The redhead looked away, trying to keep his face an expressionless mask, and not succeeding very well. "I don't understand." He rose to his feet and tried to put as much space between him and Takeru, but Takeru bounded to his feet and grabbed Daisuke around his wrists and glared at him furiously. 

"I think you do Daisuke," he said tightly, betrayal evident in his face and voice. "Answer me: _do you like Ken_?!" 

Daisuke stared at him and Takeru was briefly sorry when he saw the fear in the cinnamon orbs. Then he remembered what Daisuke had just done and the regret disappeared. Takeru clenched his teeth and started to shake Daisuke. Daisuke yelped, his teeth clicking together as he was dragged back and forth. "Takeru stop it!" 

"Answer me!" Takeru snapped back, not lessoning his shaking. Why wouldn't he answer him? He'd just rejected him, wasn't he good enough to be answered now?! 

"Takeru _stop_! You'll get Jun in here!" was Daisuke's cry. Suddenly Takeru felt something bite him hard in the ankle and gave a startled cry, dropping Daisuke, who tumbled back onto the bed in a surprised heap. Takeru looked down to see Chibimon clinging tightly to his sock, staring up at him with large eyes that were a mixture of fear and anger. 

"Don't kick him off!" Daisuke shrieked, seriously alarmed that Takeru would actually do just that. Considering what he had just been doing to _him_, Daisuke had the right to be afraid for his digimon. 

Thankfully Takeru seemed to recover his senses once more, as he leaned down and gently untangled Chibimon from his sock, holding him out to Daisuke. Daisuke took him quickly and cradled him to his chest, both of them staring at Takeru with wide eyes. Takeru shuffled uncomfortably and turned away, unable to look at them. "I better go," he murmured, fighting to keep his emotions in check. 

He had just reached the door when Daisuke's soft voice made him turn around once more. Daisuke eyes were large and still afraid, as he whispered, "I'm sorry Takeru. For everything." 

Takeru gave him a bitter smile. "It's not you who should be sorry Daisuke. It's me." Then he turned and pulled open the door, shutting it softly behind him. Daisuke stared at the space where Takeru had stood with a miserable expression. What had he just done? 

~*~

To say Takeru was upset as he walked dazed around the streets was about as effective as describing a hurricane as a breeze. The blonde's azure eyes were pained and haunted, as he stared listlessly down at the pavement making his way through the Odaiba district. He either made sure to avoid walking into people or they made sure to avoid him. He didn't feel like being the gracious, polite person he usually was. He'd just had his heart broken after all... 

After a while (and after walking through five blocks) the pain began to be replaced by anger. How _dare_ Daisuke reject him like that! He had deserved to be shaken like that after what he had done! Takeru glared angrily at the ground, his sense beginning to dim in comparison to his lust for revenge. Yes, he wanted revenge against Daisuke for what he had done to him. He wanted revenge very badly. 

And there _was_ someone he could hurt to satisfy his revenge. Someone Daisuke obviously cared about because he had just rejected him. Ken. 

It had occurred to Takeru for a brief moment that he didn't usually act like this. He was the Keeper of Hope after all; he didn't go around seeking revenge for things that had probably been his fault in the first place. Daisuke had just been honest with him. He was sure he would have been hurt even more if Daisuke had led him on along with Ken. 

But then he remembered the pain and humiliation he had felt at the redhead's hands, and he felt anger boil inside him once more. It wasn't _fair_ for all this to have happened to him. He hadn't deserved any of it! Yes, he would get revenge all right -- and he would make sure it would be so sweet his teeth would almost rot. 

His expression set, Takeru hurried over to his apartment, to use his mother's computer. The best place to get into the Digital World. 

~*~

The Digital World was dark as Takeru made his way towards Ken's base, but the blonde was sure Ken would still be there. Since the Kaiser was teaching Daisuke (exactly what he was teaching him, he didn't even want to think about), there would be a chance that Ken would have to stay even longer during the night to ensure his areas remained under his control and to try and conquer new areas. Although, since Daisuke hadn't been with them on their last few trips to the Digital World (he knew now that Daisuke had been having lessons with Ken then), they hadn't been able to get much done without Flamedramon's help anyway. 

There were no digimon about that could cause serious harm to him, which he found strange, although he made sure Patamon had stayed home. The flying digimon had been outraged that Takeru had wanted to go to the Digital World completely alone, but he had been adament. But then Takeru remembered something Biyomon and Tentomon had told them months ago: the Digimon Kaiser never came out at night. He just hoped that was the same for the digimon he controlled. 

Ken's base loomed ahead, but Takeru couldn't see if there was anyone there or not from this distance. He sighed and kept going, trying to ignore the rather angry doubts that were beginning to set in. Was he really this stupid? Apparently so. But he couldn't give up now. He just couldn't and that was that. 

It was too easy to get in. Far too easy for Takeru's liking. Ken was slightly obsessed when it came to his precious base being guarded. He never wanted it to be infiltrated -- surprise, surprise -- so he shouldn't have been able to get in so quick. It was as if Ken _knew_ he didn't have a digimon with him, and so wouldn't be able to put on a good fight. It was slightly disturbing. 

He slipped inside Ken's control room and stared up at the monitors that had hidden controls near them. He was so busy looking at them and trying to imagine how much Ken was able to see with them, that he never saw or heard the person coming up behind him. 

"What are you doing here?" a cold voice said and Takeru whirled around to see Ken standing behind him, arms crossed and not looking very happy. He gulped but met Ken's shaded gaze bravely. 

"I asked you a question," Ken said icily, not moving at all. If anything he just looked really, really annoyed. He began to tap a finger against his arm, eyeing Takeru unpleasantly. 

Takeru gritted his teeth and felt his hands curl into fists. "I came to see you," he said bluntly. _And hopefully punch you for what you've done as well,_ he added silently, watching Ken's reaction with a sudden queasy feeling. Ken didn't look too happy about this. 

Ken not looking too happy about this was a very big understatement. He looked _furious_! "Excuse me, but what _right_ have you to come in here at all?!" he hissed, taking a threatening step forward. Takeru refused to step back, although his legs were itching to be allowed move. 

"I'm your enemy: of course I have the right!" he retorted, wondering secretly if he'd been taken over by aliens or something. Even he knew that he _never_ acted like this! 

Ken only raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing a word he was saying. And this made Takeru, already mad, go near breaking point. 

"Do you like Daisuke?" he asked, finally getting to the point. 

Ken was completely unprepared for this, and his startled expression showed it. "_What_?!" he demanded, looking at Takeru warily. 

"Do you like Daisuke? It's a very simple question you know," Takeru told him smoothly, knowing Ken was going to go ballistic any second. The boy was a very unstable Kaiser as it was. Having questions he didn't like thrown at him wasn't going to help things. 

Ken looked like he couldn't believe what he was just hearing. "It's also a very personal question!" he snarled, eyes narrowing behind the tinted shades. 

"So you do like him? That's going to make what I'm just about to do much easier." This was said along with Takeru moving rapidly towards the Kaiser and he reached out and punched him squarely in the face at the end of the sentence. Ken was completely at a loss, flying backwards to land fully on his back. He looked stunned for a second before coming to his senses. 

"What the _hell_ do you think you just did?!" he howled, reaching for the handle of his whip and lashing Takeru full across the face with it in seconds. Ken didn't like being punched much. Takeru yelped and leaped back, but Ken had already come to his feet at this point and flung himself at Takeru, sending them both tumbling to the ground. 

They grappled, both wanting the upper hand and neither willing to let the other have it. "Why the hell are you doing this?!" Ken demanded, as he pinned Takeru down by his arms. He looked positively livid and wasn't hiding it. 

"You took Daisuke away from me!" Takeru snapped back, kicking Ken in the stomach and sending him backwards groaning, as he clutched his stomach, and tried not to look in pain at the same time. "Do you expect me to _like_ that?!" 

"So it's me who's getting the pummelling?" Ken asked. "I didn't even know you liked him blondie!" he added, glaring up at him. 

"You still took him away!" Takeru panted, coming towards him again. Ken narrowed his eyes and made a deft movement with his hand through the air that floored Takeru. Ken quickly flung himself on top of Takeru, using both his arms and body to pin the other boy down. 

"Do you realise how irrational that just sounded?" he asked, glaring down at him. Takeru glared back. Then they both realised how close they were to each other at the exact same moment. Ken's eyes widened, as Takeu blushed before he could stop himself. 

They both froze when they heard the strangled, anguished voice say, "What are you two _doing_?!" 

Ken twisted his head around to see Daisuke standing there, looking horrified and amazed at the same time. His eyes were red-rimmed and there were dry tear tracks on his face. He had been crying. And he had the betrayed look on his face that Takeru himself had sported only a while ago. 

Oh this was going to take some explaining. 

~*~


	10. Dangerous Friend

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Ten: Dangerous Friend

**

The next few moments passed like hours in Takeru's mind, as he stared up at Daisuke in shock, pinned under Ken. The expression on Daisuke's face as he stared at then made him feel sick. At the least Daisuke looked disgusted. At the most he looked ready to kill them. Takeru couldn't blame him really -- it probably would have looked very suspicious to him if he'd been in Daisuke's position. 

"Daisuke," Ken said flatly. Takeru couldn't believe how damn calm he was. Maybe he had been telling the truth, maybe nothing had been going on between them. Maybe Ken had fought with him just for something to do. Nah, he had a Digital World to take over after all. Ken didn't have spare time. And there _had_ been something going on with him and Daisuke -- Daisuke had told him after all. Well, sort of. Shaking him probably hadn't been the smartest thing to do. 

"Ken," the redhead snapped, life suddenly beginning to pour into his brown eyes. Takeru winced at his tone, while Ken remained calm as always, picking himself off of Takeru slowly and facing his student... if he could still be considered that. Takeru was pleased to note that Ken didn't look too happy at how things were turning out. His arms were crossed, his face paler than usual and his lips were drawn to a tight line. But could the Kaiser be sorry for what he had done? He didn't know. 

"I suppose I should tell you the worst excuse in the book," the boy genius said, his voice still completely serene. Takeru wanted to hit him at this point, and he was sure he wasn't the only one. Daisuke did _not_ look pleased with either of them. "It isn't how it looks." Ken had been right -- that _was_ the worst excuse in the book. The Keeper of Hope resisted the urge to hit his forehead and groan. 

Daisuke let out a deep breath and shook his head. "I sincerely hope you don't expect me to believe that!" he snapped, his face possibly livid. Takeru hadn't seen his best friend -- possibly his ex-best friend right now -- this mad before. Ever. Even when they had been in the thick of battle or arguments Daisuke had never truly lost his cool before. He had a feeling this was going to be a memorable experience and not in a good way. 

Ken shrugged. "I told you it was the worst excuse," he said mildly. "I wouldn't have said it if I expected you to believe it." _How does he stay so calm?_ Takeru wondered, looking extremely baffled. _If he's not careful, Daisuke's going to hit him!_

Daisuke tossed him a disgusted look, which, in Takeru's opinion, was even worse than being yelled at and then jumped when the redhead turned to him. "And what about you?!" Daisuke demanded. "Did you just do this to get back at me?!" 

Takeru stared at him, appalled. "For once Ken's telling the truth! Nothing's going on! We just --" He broke off, unable to admit as to being so childish as to pick a fight with Ken because Daisuke had rejected him. Ken possibly came to this conclusion, for the grin that spread across his face was cruel and smug. 

"We just what?" Daisuke demanded impatiently, crossing his arms and tapping one finger against his upper arm. His expression was not comforting in any way and Takeru found himself beginning to sweat. 

"I picked a fight with him," he whispered, avoiding Daisuke's outraged gaze and staring down at the floor. 

"Why?" The word was short and abrupt and the replusion in it made Takeru wish that the floor would just swallow him up right there and then. He hadn't realised Daisuke had this side to his personality and was glad he hadn't seen it before. Maybe that was the reason he had kept it hidden so well. 

"You -- you -- because you rejected me," he said in a rasped whisper and sobbed before he could help himself. How could he have been so _stupid_? He thought he had been better than this! Feeling a despair well up in him that he had never, ever experienced before, he looked up desperately at Daisuke. "Daisuke, I'm so sorry!" he cried. "You have to believe me, I never meant to be so stupid!" It was desperate and it was foolish. He'd hurt Daisuke unbearably earlier this evening and now he had just hurt him even more. Daisuke wasn't going to listen to him now. 

The hiss that escaped through Daisuke's lips made Takeru shudder and Ken to look at the redhead in surprise. Even when he'd made Daisuke mad himself, the Keeper of Courage had reacted with his fiery temper as the Kaiser had expected him to. All right, Ken hadn't expected him to send bursts of fire raining down from the sky, but the redhead's temper had cooled off after a while. He had the feeling this was Daisuke's real temper and he also had the feeling he wasn't going to like what he was going to see. Ken glanced from the seething Daisuke to the trembling Takeru with a grim expression on his face. 

"I knew you'd do something like this!" Daisuke growled irritably at him, looking for one minute like he was going to hit Takeru. The power radiating from him had the hairs on the back of Ken's neck standing and as a caution, the Kaiser silently put up shields around himself, and after a moment's consideration, around Takeru himself. The blonde hadn't a drop of magical talent in him and so needed to be protected in _some_ way. Although Ken wasn't happy about it, he had some compassion in him. He just hid it well and burrowed it deep. "You just can't cope when you don't get something you want!" the redhead continued, and even Ken lifted an eyebrow at this. Wasn't this just taking it a little bit too far? It wasn't like Daisuke to harp on about things like this either, come to think of it. The Kaiser had some idea about his character by now, having battled against him and having to teach him to control his temper and powers. Although from where he was standing now, it seemed he hadn't done such a great job. 

"I told you I'm sorry!" Takeru replied in a weary voice. Ken couldn't believe it, but he was beginning to feel slightly sorry for him. Daisuke was overreating just a little -- Takeru hadn't been able to do much damage to him anyway and his pride hadn't been hurt ... well, possibly Takeru's, but that was beside the point. The blonde looked crushed. "What else can I say?" 

"Nothing," Daisuke replied flatly, shaking his head and turning away. "And you're no better," he hissed at Ken and the hurt and pain finally began to show on Daisuke's face. "I thought I could _trust_ you!" the redhead told him in a broken voice, and Ken was beginning to realise this was having worse consequences on Daisuke that he'd first thought. "I guess I was wrong," the redhead mumbled, looking alarmingly drained. "You're no better than you were when I first met you. At any rate you're worse." 

"Oh for God's sake Daisuke!" Ken said in an exasperated voice. "It was just a fight! It meant nothing!" Daisuke really was taking this too far. 

"It doesn't matter if it was a fight or not," Daisuke muttered. "Takeru's still my best friend and you hurt him." 

Ken stared at him. What _was_ it with Daisuke?! "You weren't acting like much of a friend to him a few seonds ago," the progidy commented archly. "Besides, _he_ was the one who burst in here and lunged at me!" 

Daisuke shook his head hard, and his goggles flashed in the dim light from the monitors. It was then that Ken really started to worry about him -- he looked very pale. Ken was beginning to suspect he was having something like a nervous breakdown. But a fight and an argument shouldn't have been able to push someone as strong as Daisuke to this! What was going on? "Daisuke," he said quietly, reaching for him. The redhead jerked and shook his arm off, turning away and walking to the door. 

"Just let me alone," Ken heard him murmur quietly as he disappeared out the door, leaving the genius and the blonde staring after him, both of them stunned and worried. Ken glanced at Takeru and wasn't comforted to see the worry and surprise reflected in his face. What the hell was up with Daisuke lately? 

* * *

_He dragged himself out of the ground at last, and brushed earth and dirt off of his cloak. He was free at last! He looked up at the night sky and laughed at the sight of the moon and the stars. He looked around and his excellent eyesight spied the trees and the grass and the plants. He managed to deceipher the shadows from the shapes and marvelled at the way the moonlight drenched everything it touched, letting everything else drown in darkness. Unable to believe he was free from that wretched curse at last, he threw back his head and laughed and mocked the druids who had chained him to a lifetime of misery. **They** were dust now and **he** lived! And his laugh held an undercurrent of warning to those who were good. For they would soon be no more, he would ensure that. _

He began to walk through the land and his cloak brushed the grass stems. He smelled air for the first time in lifetimes and it was strange, as if there was too much magic in the air. It was then he sensed him. Daisuke. Close by. Alone. As he absently went through his mind, he was pleased to sense the emotions of sadness and despair radiating from him. His brooch, his 'gift' was working then. Daisuke would soon be completely under his control, and his power would be his. He was sure Daisuke wouldn't mind him draining his complete power source. He chuckled. Daisuke had no idea what was about to happen to him. A pity really. But as a new thought crossed his mind, his eyes narrowed. There was still that annoying, so-called 'Kaiser' to get rid of. He was powerful, but his power was not as intoxicating as Daisuke's. A delicate sneer curled the vampire's lips, revealing ice-white, deadly fangs that curved and killed. 

The vampire's green eyes glowed as he began to walk towards Daisuke. And as he passed all the plants died. 

* * *

He'd never felt so alone and confused before in his life, he was sure of it. Daisuke stumbled through the Digital World, his eyes dazed and his chest feeling as if it was on fire. He felt so strange, so woozy... surely having a fight couldn't have this sort of effect on him? He groaned, falling to his knees as his strength failed. Black dots danced across his vision and his head throbbed. What was happening to him? 

He groaned again, clutching his stomach desperately. He felt like he was going to throw up, but he hadn't eaten anything. Maybe that was the problem, he couldn't remember the last time he _had_ eaten anything. He hissed as his stomach lurched uncomfortably. He felt _terrible_! 

He didn't hear the footsteps approaching until someone stood over him. He gasped, looking up in fear and shock. A man stood beside him, a man that was tall and confident. He stared. He was tall all right, a long, dark cloak swirling around him. Hair as black as his cloak curled softly around his neck. His eyes watched him silently, green as emeralds. Daisuke found himself unable to look away. 

"Erik," he whispered, his eyes widening. He couldn't remember ever learning his name, but he knew it as well as he knew his own. "You came." He looked away from him, ashamed at how he sounded. He couldn't help it, he felt so broken, so helpless... 

"Daisuke," he replied softly, saying his name like a caress. He kneeled before him, easing his fingers under his chin, gently forcing the redhead to look up at him again. "Of course I came. I would never let you like this and not come." 

Daisuke managed to keep himself composed for a few more moments, before his composure crumbled nicely and he flung himself into Erik's arms, sobbing quietly. Erik hugged him to his chest, letting him cry for as long as he needed to. The vampire closed his eyes briefly and if one looked close enough, they could see the brooch still attached to Daisuke's shirt glow steadily. 

When he pushed himself away, Daisuke was blushing. Erik chuckled. "Are you embarrassed?" he asked softly. 

Daisuke shook his head. "No...yes," he admitted with a sigh. As the older man chuckled again, his blush deepened. 

Suddenly Erik's laughter stopped abruptly and his pale face turned serious. "You know I would never hurt you," he whispered. Daisuke nodded slowly. "Not like how Ken and Takeru have hurt you." 

Daisuke stiffened, but replied tightly, "I know." He looked down at the ground as he spoke, his voice trembling. "Will you hurt them for me? Will you hurt them as they've hurt me?" 

"If you want me to," the vampire purred and gathered Daisuke once more in his arms. The redhead gasped as the vampire's lips landed on his neck. He shivered, for they felt rather cold. "But you know I would _never_ hurt you," he repeated. Daisuke could only groan as the lips moved around the sensitive skin. The vampire felt only mild annoyance as Daisuke squirmed. 

"Please," he hissed, trying to keep his emotions under control. "Please stop." He wasn't ready for this, he wasn't, he knew this! Not after what had just happened to him! "_Stop_!" he cried, wrenching himself away. "Let me alone!" He glared at Erik, who looked decidedly displeased at the turn of things. 

"I told you I wouldn't hurt you," the vampire snapped, and Daisuke shivered, but this time it was because he was afraid. Erik frightened him, and he wasn't quite sure why. Realising how he had acted, Erik quickly changed tactics. "Just let me hold you," he crooned softly. "Let me comfort you." 

Daisuke watched him, looking extremely wary and with good reason to, but he let him hold him, more because he was afraid to refuse Erik than because he wanted to be comforted. After a few moments, he relaxed, thinking, _This isn't so bad after all._ He hid his face in Erik's shirt. 

As he couldn't see Erik's face, he didn't notice his face turn a sickly shade of white, unnaturally pale. He didn't see his eyes turn even a brighter shade of green, a green that eyes should not be. He didn't feel any fear as Erik gently tilted his face to the side, exposing his throat. He didn't see Erik's lips draw back in a feral smile, exposing curved, deadly fangs that shone dully in the dim moonlight. 

However he did feel something as Erik slowly drew his fangs across Daisuke's neck. Panic bubbled up through him as he heard the savage snarl Erik uttered. With a desperate panic, he tried to wrench himself away but Erik's grip on him was iron tight. _No!_ he yelled silently. _No! No! NO!_

Daisuke's scream died in his throat as Erik sank his fangs into his neck, tearing into the vein in his throat, and everything turned into chaos. But his power uttered the screams for him. 

~*~ 


	11. Desperate Measures

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Eleven: Desperate Measures

**

What had felt wonderful a mere few moments before, now felt horrifying. Daisuke found something wet and warm spill down his cheeks and realised he was crying. Not the sobbing tears of before, but tears of rage, tears of pain, tears of disbelief. This couldn't be happening, it just _couldn't_ be happening! Things like this didn't happen in real life, they happened in the movies and in books -- and they _didn't_ happen to normal people. Although, now that he thought of it, when had he ever been a normal person? 

The vampire withdrew his fangs from his neck but immediately latched onto the bleeding vein, draining Daisuke of what he needed to survive. The redhead's survival instincts _finally_ kicked in and when he opened his mouth to yell, he discovered he and Erik held some sort of telepathic bond if you could call it that. So he used it to his advantage... well, what else could he do? 

_~Let me go!~_ he demanded of the vampire indignantly. _~Let go of me right now!~_

Erik's chuckle thrummed through his mind. _~Do you really expect your piteous demands to work Daisuke?~_ he enquired lazily. 

_~I don't know, but it's a lot better than letting you eat me!~_ he snapped in answer. The vampire burst out laughing. 

_~Foolish boy,~_ he drawled. _~I am far, far older than you can imagine. I was alive before your ancestors discovered farming, before they even discovered fire! I was there and I was always the more powerful. Your pitiful race is no match, it never was.~_

Daisuke knew things were going very badly right now, particularly for him, but he also knew he couldn't let this vampire win, otherwise he was putting the other Digidestined and Ken at risk. He was aware that he was weakening -- he was shivering and he felt very, very light-headed, too light-headed in fact. Strange things swirled around in his mind -- vivid colours that leaked into each other, forming a sickening pool that hurt his head and hurt his eyes from looking at it. A throbbing pain in his head did a steady beat in time to his heart, but as his heartbeat was rapidly quickening while his headache didn't, that didn't matter anymore. 

Daisuke swallowed as agony gushed into his stomach and closed his eyes as he tried to remember some of the symptons of anaemia... dizziness, nausea, headaches, stomach aches... to be technical about it he was suffering from anaemia. To be extremely technical about it. Well large quantities of his blood were going bye-bye, so... yeah. When he found his vision going hazy and black, he knew he had to do something before he passed out. 

But what? First thing was first -- shields. He was not going to let that vampire know his every thought and know exactly how to stop him from getting loose. He quickly envisioned large steel walls as Ken had taught him to, and immediately slammed them down. They didn't cut off the link, but they did keep Daisuke's thoughts from Erik. Good. Ken would have been proud of him. 

What now? Daisuke quickly went through everything Ken had taught him, but defeating a vampire wasn't one of things a teacher covered was it? Especially not when they were supposed to be legend of all things! He bit his lip and to his dismay, came to another conclusion. As well as draining his blood, the vampire was also draining his power. There wasn't enough left to do a simple spell without tapping into his life supply, which, when used up, would inevitably kill him. But if he didn't do something soon, the vampire would tap into that source with no regret and there would definitely be no more Daisuke. 

_Think Daisuke!_ he thought seriously. _Think, think! What do you know about vampires? What kills them?_ He quickly went through everything he had heard and seen about vampires from the movies, books and ghost stories Jun had told him when he was a kid. Whether it was true or not he didn't know, but he was willing to do anything at this point. Vampires were night creatures. They slept in coffins and needed blood and power to survive. They hated the sunlight, it was even supposed to kill them. There were certain rules to be followed. Destroying a vampire meant one of four things -- a stake through the heart, decapitation, setting them on fire or exposing them to sunlight. Holy objects, such as crosses and holy water did not kill them but did hinder them a considerable amount if you wanted to run for your life. 

Seeing as it was night-time, sunlight was out. He had no stake and there wasn't a branch in sight as he was miles from the forest. He had no axe so decapitation was out and he had no lighter or anything. This was beginning to look very bad. He racked his brains desperately for something -- _anything_ -- and slowly an idea began to form in his mind as his hand drifted to his shirt... 

_"Hikari!" Daisuke yelped, as he stared at the brunette who stood patiently outside his apartment door. She had been the last person he had expected to see there. "What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to get his mind back in working order. It was true he'd once had a crush on her, but seeing as she was with Mimi now, the crush had quickly died out. _

She smiled, but he could still see the tense look in her eyes. What was wrong? "Hi Daisuke," she replied. "Can I come in?" He blinked, but stepped aside so she could come in. "Thanks." She pretended not to see the curious look on his face as he shut the door after her. It really wasn't often she came over to the Motomiya apartment and when she did, there was a very good reason. 

"So what's up?" he asked her, as he followed her inside. He grabbed a chair as she sank into the couch. "I mean, it's nice to see you and all, but you don't exactly come here often." 

She smiled again. "I know. Actually I came here to give you something." She grinned when Daisuke's eyes lit up. "No, it's not food." She laughed as Daisuke's face immediately fell. "Honestly Daisuke, sometimes I wonder who's worse -- you or Chibimon!" 

Bouncing back as was typical of him, Daisuke didn't bother to hide his curiosity. Hikari knew him too well. "So what **are** you going to give me?" he asked, telling himself that he would **not** fidget. Nope, not him. 

"This." Hikari reached into her pocket and pulled out something about the size of her palm and stood up. Walking over to him, she pressed it into his hands and grinned at his astonished look. "No, I haven't lost it Daisuke," she supplied, giggling. 

"But..." Daisuke stammered. "But -- but -- a **cross**?!" He looked at the small cross in his hands. As far as he could tell it was made of silver, with small jewels encrusted into each of the four points. "As nice as it Hikari... why are you giving it to me?" He was baffled and it showed plainly. Not many people thought of giving him crosses everyday. 

He blinked as Hikari's expression visibly changed and grew more serious. "What's wrong?" he asked, wondering what he had said wrong. It was just typical of him. 

"Nothing," she said quietly, eyes grim and her face painfully serious for one so young. "Just take it Daisuke and keep it safe. If you can manage it, keep it on yourself at all times or near you." She looked at him and Daisuke's jokes died in his throat. "Something tells me that you'll need it one day. I'm not sure why exactly, but you'll need it." 

He hadn't know what to say, but he had kept it and thanked her. 

Daisuke strained to reach his slacks pocket, face tensed in determination. At last his gloved hand reached the pocket and he yanked it in, his hand closing over the cool metal, pulling it out. Now he was so glad that he'd done as Hikari had told him, he was nearly fit to cry. Of course, he was still puzzled as to how Hkari had known he'd need it, but he figured it was something she had known because of her strange powers. 

_Okay Motomiya,_ he told himself, fighting to keep calm. _You have to plan this carefully, even though technically, you don't have much time. Okay, wait for it... wait... hold it... wait.... NOW!_ With a violent wrench, he rammed the cross into Erik's face making sure the metal touched his face and prayed he had enough faith that this entire thing would work, never mind faith in anything else. It worked. 

The cross started to smoke and Erik's face began to singe where the cross touched his face. In moments the cross was burning and the vampire was clawing at Daisuke, trying to get the cross out of his face. But the redhead was stubborn and clenched his teeth as he fought against Erik's awsome strength. He wanted to leave a mark Erik would _never_ forget. So far it was working. 

At last, while Erik shrieked in pain and fear, he managed to deliver a blinding sideblow against Daisuke's face, sending the boy spinning, cross still held tightly in his hand. He gasped for breath, stunned and dazed, but blissfully alive. Without thinking he reached up to lightly touch his neck and winced. The spot where Erik had bitten him was sore and tender, but thankfully not bleeding too heavily... although now that he thought of it, maybe that was a very bad thing. A sudden wave of dizziness overtook him and he knew it was a bad thing as the pain he had been holding back while hurting Erik returned in full force. He had to get away. 

Staggering to his feet, he shakily took a step forward and then another. After a few hesitant steps, he tossed caution to the winds and broke into a stumbling run, the only thing clear in his mind was to put as much distance between him and Erik as he possibly could. But at the pace he was going, it just wasn't enough. He needed help. 

A hissing roar brought his attention back to the situation at hand. He looked back to see Erik apparently recovering from the agony he had given him and preparing to go after him. His scarred, smoking face was twisted into an ugly rancour, hatred burning in his eyes. Whatever facade he had been going under, it was completely gone now. Erik was going to kill him if he didn't get away, but seeing as he was nearly dead and could hardly walk, that was going to be a problem. 

Their eyes met and then Daisuke uttered a gasp, turning again. But Erik didn't go after him. He was tired of games and tired of running and tired of chasing. This time he meant business. And business was never a long affair. A grim, cruel smile twisting his lips, Erik held out his hand and clenched the fingers so they vaguely resembled claws. The hissing, reptilian-sounding words curled from his throat and were definitely not in English or any other recognisable language. This was from a time when humans were the hunted and lived in caves and were constantly living in fear. Where they were not the arrogant, self-assured race they were now. Grey mist swirled around his hands and reached for Daisuke. 

The redhead couldn't do anything as the mist gathered around him. Nothing worked, he couldn't break it apart. Instead of fading, it grew thick and dense until he couldn't see anything except grey. He gagged as it entered his mouth and nose, tickling his nostrils and filling him with a smoky, thick scent that made him feel so tired. He slowly fell to his knees, as his eyes grew heavy. He _couldn't_ fall asleep, he just _couldn't_! But he couldn't stop it, it was so powerful... 

He found himself overwhelmed by the greyness and the smell and fell into liquid darkness that clung to him as he fell. Black and grey everywhere... black... grey... black... only grey and black. It all grew too much as his eyes closed and all he saw was black and he couldn't remember anything anymore. 

When his eyes opened, all he could see was the grey and the mist that surrounded him. 

* * *


	12. Welcome to the Ghost Roads

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Twelve: Welcome to the Ghost Roads

**

Ken was still in a foul mood after Daisuke had left at a flat out run. He shook his head hard, rubbing his fingers in circles at his temples. He knew he was getting a headache, he just _knew_ it. With a heavy sigh he began to pace, wondering if Daisuke was really in a bad state and wondering why the hell he had gone after him yet. Could it be that he, the mighty Digimon Kaiser, was afraid? The thought was mildly offensive. 

After turning yet again, it finally hit him that Takeru was still there, staring at the door Daisuke had left through with a troubled expression. Ken gave him an ugly look. "Why the hell are you still here?!" he demanded, glaring at him. Takeru glared back. 

"Why the hell haven't you gone after him yet then?!" Takeru retorted, looking every bit as angry as Ken felt. "It's _you_ he likes after all, therefore it's _your_ job to look after him, _particularly_ when he goes off looking ready to have a nervous breakdown!" This speech hit home just a little bit too hard and Ken fought not to fidget nervously. Truth be told he _was_ getting a little bit worried about Daisuke. Damn. 

"I guess we'll go look for him and make sure he hasn't done anything stupid," Ken said at last, looking none too pleased with the whole idea, and indeed with how things had been going at all. When you thought about it, could you blame him? 

Takeru stared at him. "We? Excuse me, but _we_? I don't _think_ so Kaiser!" Up to that point both of them had conveniently forgotten the fact they were actually enemies. This, naturally, brought it all back and both glared at each other fiercely. 

"Well it's _your_ fault any of this happened!" Ken snapped, eyes burning. "If you hadn't acted like an idiot and come here in the first place!" Possibly the worst thing about this in Takeru's mind was that he was right. It _was_ his fault. 

He was still trying to come up with a suitable comeback that didn't automatically pinpoint the blame at him, when suddenly Ken clutched his head and moaned, swaying. Hatred for his enemy automatically took second place to concern so he naturally went over to him. "Are you all right?" he asked. 

Ken shook his head hard, still clutching his head in the process and still moaning. "Do I _look_ all right to you?!" he snapped and Takeru sighed. So what if it had been a stupid question?! At least he was showing he cared... sort of anyway. Then Ken moaned again and staggered. "Daisuke..." he groaned. 

Daisuke? "What's happening?" Takeru demanded. "What about Daisuke?!" Damn, what was _going_ on?! 

"He's in pain..." Ken muttered, starting to go a bit pale. _He looks sick,_ Takeru realised suddenly and wished he knew what was going on. "...something... someone's hurting him... blood!... I see blood!... too much blood.... Daisuke!" Ken's knees shook and Takeru had to grab onto him to prevent him from hitting the ground. "Daisuke!" Ken snapped. "We have to get to him right away!" The expression on his face was slightly fearful and Takeru didn't bother hiding this opinion. 

"All right," he agreed, even though he hadn't the faintest idea what was actually going on. "We'll get to Daisuke. Just... where is he?" 

If only he'd known what they were going up against... 

* * *

Daisuke looked around and had no idea where he was. Anywhere and everywhere he looked, there was either grey there or mist, or usually, there was both. It was so like his dream it was slightly alarming. He'd met Erik in his dream... had danced with him...had agreed to be his and only his. The sheer thought of what he had agreed to be with Erik was now making him feel very, very sick. He gulped at the heavy feeling in his stomach and told himself to calm down. So far he was alone. Although whether this was a good or bad thing, he wasn't exactly sure. 

_I better stand up at least,_ he finally realised, blinking and trying to remember how to stand up and walk again. Falling... somewhere... really wasn't something he liked doing much. It tended to do strange things to him. Eventually he was on his feet and trying to see where he was and hoped he wasn't going to walk over a cliff or anything. That wouldn't be the smartest thing he'd ever done. 

_Take one step,_ he told himself. _One step and it'll be all easier from there. Or at least, that's what they say..._ Gritting his teeth, he stepped forward, holding out his arms warily to brush through the mist and grey. It obviously didn't work. But still he kept going, in the dim hope he would eventually find his way out of there. _I will **not** let Erik win!_ he swore. _I will stop him, I swear it!_ Although finding his way out of here was the rather top priority at the moment, considering if he couldn't get out of here, he couldn't stop Erik either. 

He wasn't sure how long he walked for. He had no watch and the time on his D3 had mysteriously stopped, so minutes or hours could have passed while he walked. Even days for all he knew. All he could do was walk forward, his arms slashing through the relentless mist... he was beginning to call it a fog almost. Upon a chance glance down at the ground, he realised he was almost walking upon a path of sorts... a road. It didn't make any sense. 

As time passed (how much he just had no idea of) a new feeling took over him. The feeling of being watched. He frowned as a crawling sensation overtook him and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Someone was watching him, but in this fog he couldn't see them. It did more than just freak him out -- it terrified him. Erik had watched him. He didn't think he was going to be comfortable with being watched for a long time to come. 

Back to present matters. He looked around as he walked, eyes probing the fog to try and make out a shape, any shape at all. All he could see was swirling fog. At last, simply frustrated with everything, he spoke. Or shouted more like. "Who's there?!" he yelled, voice echoing. "I know you're there, so just come out and face me!" The little voice inside his head was screeching at him to just _keep his mouth shut_, but he ignored it. And ignored the fact that everytime he had ignored that voice before, he had just got into deeper trouble. Convenient. 

He stood there as sweat rolled down his face and back, making his shirt cling to him. He grimaced. That just felt _rotten_! And he _hated_ being afraid... then he froze as something moved near him. He whirled around to face it, just as it broke apart from the mist to come before him. It was then he finally understood that he had never been alone here at all. He had always been surrounded because these... things... whatever they were... were part of the mist -- they _were_ the mist -- and they surrounded him. As the wisps of fog shifted and features defined in front of him, his nerve completely failed him as it finally hit him what the fog was. What the beings were. He turned dramatically pale and fell to his knees as the fog being seemed to become something near solid in front of him. 

He looked like a boy, or at least he had the face, torso and arms of a boy. All below the waist was just wavering mist. He looked to be around his own age, with spiky, wild hair that vaguely resembled Ken's when he was the Kaiser, Daisuke realised. He had large eyes and large glasses before them. He seemed to be in a sweater or something and was gazing at him rather calmly, apparently completely oblivious to the fact that he was nearly see-through and was floating about three feet above the ground and was just slightly above Daisuke's eye level. He didn't seem surprised that Daisuke looked completely floored, but didn't seem to be surprised at anything for that matter. 

_"Welcome to the Ghost Roads,"_ he said, sounding very polite. His voice echoed and quickly faded, eaten up, Daisuke presumed, by the thickness of the fog. Absorbed. 

"Uh... hi," Daisuke stammered at last, after a few moments of just staring at the being before him and opening and closing his mouth like a fish gasping. "I guess... you're... that is, you're a..." He couldn't say it. No matter how he phrased it, he just couldn't say it. 

_"A ghost,"_ the boy supplied. _"That is, to say, that I'm dead naturally."_ He didn't seem bothered by this fact. Although, if you've been dead for a couple of years, Daisuke figured you got used to it eventually. He supposed you had to, or you went mad or something. 

"So why I am here?" Daisuke asked, fighting to get over being starstruck... or was it ghoststruck? _That was one bad joke,_ he thought wryly. _Takeru was right -- I do need to get a new sense of humour._ The brief mention of Takeru brought all of the memories back and Daisuke faltered for a second and closed his eyes briefly. _I'll deal with that when I find my way back to the Digital World... I'm obviously not there anymore. The ghost guy said I was in the Ghost Roads... whatever they are._

He opened his eyes to find the ghost watching him solemnly. He cracked a half-hearted smile. "What are the Ghost Roads anyway? And why am I here?" He shifted as the ghost continued to look at him seriously. _Why is he looking at me like that?_

_"The Ghost Roads are the places where the souls reside. These souls are either too unforgiving to go to the Higher Plane and too gentle to go to the Damnation. They walk because they know they will never go anywhere else unless they change. And most don't want to change,"_ the ghost answered and Daisuke noted the way his eyes clouded at his explanation. 

"And why are you here?" Daisuke asked, making sure to keep his voice soft. He didn't want to say anything he would regret. Very ironic, considering what he'd already said to Ken and Takeru. Now _those_ were words you'd regret in years to come. Daisuke sighed. 

The ghost gave him a wry glance. _"I walk here because I cannot forgive myself. Unforgiving souls are not needed anywhere."_ It was hard not to sense the bitterness and anger in his voice. It seemed in Daisuke's opinion, that this spirit needed to go a lot more than forgiving. He needed to let go of many things. 

"Okay... so why am I here?" Daisuke asked again, wondering why the ghost kept dodging that particular question. The answer couldn't be that bad, could it? Part of him didn't really want to know. He swiftly ignored that part, as he always did. 

The ghost sighed, just as heavily as Daisuke had himself a mere few moments before. Then, to Daisuke's amazement, the ghost did something he had never thought he'd see a ghost ever do (let's just ignore the fact that Daisuke had never thought he'd see a ghost in the first place). The ghost fidgeted, looking extremely uncomfortable. "Look, what's the big, bad secret?" Daisuke asked, beginning to feel very frustrated. "Will you just tell me already!" 

_"Fine,"_ the ghost answered. _"Only spirits may reside here. Mortals are not allowed."_ He kept the answer bluntly short, but it was all right, because Daisuke discovered the meaning immediately. He staggered, swaying, as the blood drained from his cheeks. 

"No," Daisuke whispered in disbelief, shaking his head. His eyes were large and empty in shock and disbelief. "It can't be. I'm only eleven!" Realising what he was saying, he cast a guilty look at the ghost, who looked about eleven as well. "Sorry." The ghost shrugged, looking indifferent. 

"Are you... are you saying..." Daisuke asked with a struggling expression and extreme difficulty, "are you saying that I'm... that I'm _dead_?!" The last word was uttered with a strangled gasp, as he started to shake his head again, unwilling to believe that it could be true. 

For a moment the ghost didn't reply, looking sorrowful. Then, at last, he said, _"Yes. Almost dead."_

Daisuke's breath came in ragged gasps, as he fought to keep control. He would not panic or scream or do anything stupid, because it wouldn't even matter anymore if he was really dead. Finally he choked out, "And who are _you_?!" 

The ghost bowed his head and Daisuke thought he could just see a single tear slide down his cheek. Wow. Ghosts could cry. The thought filled him with a slightly giddy feeling, as if he was going high. He wondered dimly if he was finally giving into hysterics. The thought made him laugh, which proved his suspicions. The sound was strangled and high-pitched, a panicked laugh. 

At last the ghost said softly, _"My name is Osamu Ichijouji. Ken's brother."_

* * *


	13. Momentary Truce

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Thirteen: Momentary Truce 

**

Daisuke had been expecting the ghost to say many things. Telling him he was Ken's dead brother was not one of them. At first he didn't believe it, but then he realised that was very stupid. It was obvious this was real -- hell, he was half-dead along with it anyway -- and the ghost -- sorry, Osamu -- didn't have much of a reason to lie about who he was. Actually when he looked at him now, it was blatantly obvious he was Ken's brother. He looked remarkably like Ken when he was the Kaiser, and it made Daisuke wonder if Ken had modelled his Kaiser appearance subconsciously after his dead brother. It might explain a few things... once Daisuke could remember them. He supposed if he died, he would have plenty of time to think about things. The thought made him grimace. 

"So... you're Ken's brother," he said slowly, giving the ghost a measured look. "I didn't know Ken ever had a brother." It was true, he never had known there had been an older Ichijouji boy, much less that he had died. Those things didn't exactly happen often. 

Osamu shrugged. _"You would have been about seven or eight when I died, the same age as Ken. You probably wouldn't have been very interested in the news and things."_

Daisuke flushed but nodded. It was the truth -- he _hadn't_ been that interested in the news and such at that age. This Osamu person was good at interpreting people. "What were you like?" he asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. "Who were you?" Couldn't hurt to ask anyway. 

Osamu's face turned bitter and Daisuke began to mentally kick himself. What had he said wrong this time? _"I was the boy genius of the Ichijouji family back then. I was big news then as much as Ken is now."_ The ghost of the former boy genius paused for a moment. _"Although... admittedly I didn't become a supreme dictator of a Digital World. Ken has finally done something I never did."_ He chuckled slightly and it sounded more like a laugh than a chuckle because of the echo. 

"Wow," Daisuke said softly, staring at him. "I wasn't expecting you to say _that_." Was this the reason Ken had turned out like this, the carbon copy of his older brother in nearly everything? Was this the reason for becoming a boy genius and a star soccer player? He wish he knew. Why was figuring out people always so hard? 

_"I should hope not,"_ Osamu replied drily, giving him a thin smile. _"I can't say I'm happy at how Ken turned out. I remember telling him to be careful about having power like he has now. Obviously I didn't teach him well enough."_ The ghost's face turned sad at this. 

Daisuke frowned. It didn't seem fair to be going on about Ken like this. He probably hadn't been able to deal with Osamu's death very well, especially if he had been as young as this ghost had said he was. Daisuke knew he wouldn't have been able to cope very well if it had happened to him. He would have been extremely sad and very confused. "Maybe you shouldn't be so hard on him," he said carefully. "He probably had a really hard time dealing with your death. I know if it had been me, I would have had a hard time dealing." 

Osamu considered this. _"That makes sense,"_ he said at last. _"I suppose I have been too hard on my brother."_ He smiled at Daisuke. _"Thank you."_

Daisuke shrugged. "No problem," he said. "Just one thing... how do I get out of here? You said I wasn't dead yet, then that means there's still part of me that shouldn't be here. That has to help me, right?" He didn't want to put the hope in his voice, didn't want to believe in something that mightn't happen. Hope was Takeru's thing, not his. 

Osamu looked at him very, very seriously. _"Yes, what I said was true. You are not completely dead yet. But there is too much of you already dead Daisuke. There isn't enough of you still alive to being you out of this place. I'm sorry, but without help, you will be here completely once you are truly dead."_ He winced inwardly as Daisuke's face fell and shock entered his system. He had so wanted to tell Daisuke something that would keep the hope alive, but he couldn't. Unless Daisuke found help, he was going to be here for a very long time. Besides, what were the chances of someone -- anyone -- discovering he was here? Hardly anyone knew about, never mind believed in, this place. 

It would, literally, take a miracle. 

* * *

Ken was not in a good mood as he strode through the Digital World, Takeru fighting to keep up with him. Seeing as Ken was a judo champion and one hell of a soccer player, the boy had a stamina and strength, that Takeru, even with the amount of basketball he had played, couldn't compete with. So he just contended with fighting to keep up with him and fighting for breath along the way. 

The air pulsed with an energy that made Ken irritable, even though Takeru couldn't feel it in any way. But he had promptly been told by Ken that he hadn't a drop of magical blood in him, which hadn't made the blonde happy, despite himself. The magic was another thing that Ken and Daisuke had in common, and despite everything Daisuke had done to him, he was still jealous. Daisuke had chosen Ken. It was that simple, but he still couldn't accept it. Damn. 

But it was true the Kaiser was annoyed. He practically _stomped_, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. The expression on his face made Takeru glad it wasn't him Ken was mad at. Although he dearly would have loved to have already known who he was mad it. It wasn't Daisuke, that much he knew. And he knew he'd soon find out who it was that Ken was furious at. Part of him was sure he really wanted to know at all. 

Under different circumstances, he would have asked questions, but he got the impression Ken didn't want to be interrupted from his mental tirade that he was no doubt having. His expressions gave it all away. Takeru could be perceptive when he put his mind to it. And he really didn't want Ken mad at him right now, so he kept his mouth shut as they hurried across the Digital World. 

As they came closer, the magic energy was so strong that even he vaguely felt it, as a rippling sensation across his skin that made him want to scratch his arms. "I feel it," he said quietly, looking up at the dark sky. Even that seemed like a threat with this amount of power in the air. "Am I supposed to be able to feel it?" 

"No," Ken replied, his voice just as quiet. His shades were off at that moment, so when he turned to look at him, Takeru could see his blue eyes, as deep as sapphires. They were turbelent with emotion, and some of it surprised Takeru. There was the usual coldness and arrogance that didn't surprise him, but dimly, he also saw vulnerabilty and fear. Ken was scared. Now that surprised the Keeper of Hope. It was only now he was beginning to see what attracted Daisuke to Ken. Ken was just like them in some ways, and he was human. That was what they had all forgotten. For all of his brilliance, Ken was still just a kid, no matter how advanced his mind was. He could feel emotions just as much as they could, and things scared him as much as they scared them. He just hid his fear better than they could, but Takeru could dimly see it now. He was seriously afraid for Daisuke. Well, that was something they both had in common this time. 

"It seems the vampire might have merged his power with Daisuke's. They're both extremely powerful and the merging would have put the energy levels up astronomically high." Ken looked very worried by now. "If it gets any higher, it'll upset the balance. We can't let that happen." The fact he had just mentioned a vampire seemed to be of no surprise to him. Unfortunately, it was to Takeru. 

"_Vampire_?!" he yelped, staring at Ken. "Have you _lost_ it?!" Vampires?! Vampires weren't real, they were only myth! 

"Yes, a vampire," Ken answered shortly. "I'd had my suspicions for a while. Haven't you noticed the brooch Daisuke's been wearing lately?" Takeru nodded. It had been impossible not to see the brooch, as it clashed with everything else Daisuke wore, both in the real world and in the Digital World. It was old and had a vaguely gothic feeling about it. 

"Well, I've been feeling power pouring from it since the moment I first clapped eyes on it," Ken continued. "Evil power." It was ironic that Ken of all people could be talking about evil. "Then, when Daisuke was there chewing us both out for doing nothing--" It was only Takeru who blushed at the memory. "-- I probed it and came with the image of someone with dark hair and green eyes. He wasn't alive. He reeked vampire." Ken grimaced. "I'd heard rumous that there was a vampire here, someone who had been banished here by ancient druids centuries ago. They said he would live again when he found someone with a power that could sustain him again." 

Takeru immediately picked up where this was going. "And you think Daisuke has this power for him?" He was beginning to see his friend in an entirely new light. 

Ken nodded. "Daisuke is astonisingly powerful. When his power is properly trained, he could even be more powerful than me." This was an intensely difficult thing for Ken to say, but it was the truth. However, a dark look passed over the boy's face. "If Daisuke isn't killed first." 

This sent alarm bells off in Takeru's mind. "Are you saying this vampire is going to kill Daisuke?" Ken nodded. "Then what are we waiting for?" He brushed passed Ken at a run. The boy genius blinked and then continued after him, impressed by the blonde's concern for Daisuke, despite himself and the low view he held of Takeru. 

It was only a few seconds later that they finally found Daisuke. They both reacted in different ways. Takeru was the first to spot Daisuke's motionless body on the ground and gave a anguished cry, running forward. He hit the ground beside the unconscious boy and immediately checked for a pulse. It was still there, but the beat was alarmingly faint. But he was still alive and that was what mattered. His fingers brushed over the vampire bite on his neck and Takeru felt his eyes narrow and his teeth clench. Whoever this person was, he was going to pay for what he had done to Daisuke. Then his eyes drifted to the cross Daisuke still held tightly in his hands. 

Ken, on the other hand, hadn't time to see Daisuke because he was immediately struck down by an agonising pain in his stomach. He fell to his knees, clutching his stomach and hissing in pain, as his eyes squeezed shut. When he finally managed to open them again, there was someone approaching him. Knowing the steps were too calm to be Takeru's, he tensed, but wrenched his gaze upwards. What he saw made him fight not to gasp. 

The man he had seen through Daisuke's brooch was coming towards him. Only it was not the same man he had seen, because he was now terribly disfigured. His face was an ugly mass of tender scars, that could only have been from an injury given to him by Daisuke. They curled and dripped around his face, making his beauty worthless now. They sickened Ken. This could have given him the false impression that the vampire was weak, but Ken knew better. His eyes were still strong, the impossibly green eyes that proved he wasn't human. They burned and they burned with anger and hatred. For him, for Daisuke, for everyone. He was passed playing games. 

"Kaiser," the vampire hissed, and Ken knew that the vampire's voice had once been a wonderful melody, before his hatred had taken control and twisted everything around. Now it was a rasping hiss, a reptilian sound that made him shudder. 

"Vampire," he replied, coming to his feet and fighting not to bend over in pain. It was the vampire's work, he realised and quickly put shields around himself. He knew this had not gone passed the vampire, because he gave him an ugly grin. But he could probably could still read his thoughts. He had Daisuke's power in him, and that was not good for anyone involved. 

"Impressive," he hissed, "but you are not strong enough for me. Not like he was," he added, waving a hand absently in the general direction where Daisuke lay and where Takeru was beside him. It made Ken wonder why he hadn't gone after the blonde first. He had no magical protection and would have been an easy target. But he hadn't gone after him, instead choosing to face him. 

"I do not want more blood," the vampire said, looking at him in contempt. Ken did not like that look coming _to_ him instead of _from_ him. Guess some habits just died hard. "Daisuke was a fine volunteer for that, as well as for his power. But I need more power. And you will have to do." 

Ken instinctively stepped back. "Daisuke is not fully dead," he told him, stalling for time and not exactly sure why. "I can still sense him. You have not fully drained him of his blood or power." _And why the heck not for that matter?_

The vampire shrugged, an action that was not made for vampires, particularly vampires with long black cloaks. "A long death is far more entertaining than a quick one." The explanation was perfectly clear and Ken didn't like it. 

Ken stepped back aagin. "Allow me to disagree and allow me to refuse your request. I don't give myself to vampires." _And never damn will!_

The vampire tossed him an amused glance. "It was not a request." 

Then he lunged at him. 

* * *


	14. Power

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Fourteen: Power

**

Ken was pretty pissed off as the vampire landed on top of him. Getting a full-grown vampire on you was never a nice thing. He hissed as he fell straight onto his back, wincing as pain blossomed through his bones. It'd just be _typical_ if he fucked up his back. That was all he needed right now. At that moment he was far more concerned with trying to keep a blood-thirsty (or was it power-thirsty?) vampire away from his neck. The vampire's mouth was wide and saliva dripped from the fangs. Ken grunted as he jerked his head to the side to avoid it splashing on him. This was just _brilliant_... the vampire wasn't so graceful now, was he? Having his plans interrupted probably wasn't something he liked very much. 

Ken gritted his teeth as he slammed his hands into the vampire's face. He knew it wouldn't hurt him -- hell, he was a _vampire_ after all, simply punching him wasn't enough -- but it was intended to shock him enough that Ken could get him off of him... it was swiftly followed by a hard kick in the stomach that sent the vampire gasping. _Glad to see you're not below feeling honest pain,_ Ken thought as he scrambled away and rose to his feet, keeping a careful eye on the spluttering vampire. In some strange way, this was actually quite amusing. The images he was currently receiving of the immortal were not flattering... the opposite actually. 

Think, think! What could he do against this thing? He gave a quick glance over at Takeru and Daisuke and grimaced. Daisuke was still motionless and Takeru did not look like he would be able to keep calm for much longer. Then he saw something else. Something silver that was clutched in Daisuke's palm. 

A cross. 

Ken blinked. Well... he hadn't been expecting _that_. He frowned as he thought fast. If he had that himself, he could do enough damage to the vampire until he could come up with something better. Unfortunately his quick thinking was interrupted by the vampire rising again, and looking seriously angry. "Shit," Ken muttered, stepping back. What could he do? Then it hit him. 

The vampire wanted power. Ken had power. The vampire wanted Ken's power, which he sure as hell wasn't going to get. It would be terribly ironic if he was defeated by Ken's own power. Quickly he ran through things in his head. Fire... vampires could be burned. 

Now there was only the process of coming up with a fire spell. His memory had, naturally, drawn up a blank. It was just classic that he couldn't remember the words when he really needed them. _Think!_ his mind yelled as he dodged another lunge from fang-face as he wondered how long he could keep this up. _Think, think!_

Damnit, he _couldn't_ think! 

The cross. 

Ken tossed a desperaste glance back at Takeru, who looked like he had gone numb. "Takeru!" The blonde didn't seem to hear him. Ken gave an exasperated growl. "Takeru!!" Still no answer. "_Damn it, Takeru, will you snap out of it!!_" 

That got through to him. 

"What?" The Keeper of Hope looked up straight at Ken. His eyes slid to the vampire, who was getting ready for another lunge, and he blanched. "Argh!" 

Ken looked ready to throttle him. "Will you get yourself together!" Takeru looked too frightened to, and it was then the genius realised how dangerous it was to have him here. Damn everything. Just damn it straight to hell. Could things get any worse? "The cross Takeru!" 

Takeru looked at him blankly. 

"The cross!" Ken fought not to roll his eyes and snap. "The cross in Daisuke's hand!!" God, was he thick?! 

"Oh!" Takeru leaned down and took the cross from Daisule's still hand and looked at it. "What'll I do with it?" 

Had he gone into shock or something? Ken could hardly believe his ears. With a hiss, he skidded out of the vampire's reach again and knew he couldn't keep this up. Finally, he lost his temper and started roaring at the blonde, not caring if he annoyed him or not. "EITHER USE IT OR GIVE IT TO ME!" 

Takeru finally snapped out of whatever daze he had been in and stood up, his eyes looking more clearer than they had been when he had first found Daisuke. He took a few steps forward, aimed carefully and flung the cross at Ken, who caught it like an expert and with it braced carefully in his hand, turned to face the approaching vampire. 

They met in a colliding heap and both fell backwards very ungracefully. Ken clenched his teeth painfully and flung the cross into the vampire's face as the scars began to smoke again. Oddly, the cross didn't burn him, but Ken didn't stop to think, determined only to keep the cross in the vampire's face for as long as he could and still remain alive. The vampire's hands clawed at Ken's face and blood ran down his face in scarlet rivulets, feeling very uncomfortable and disgusting. Despite being a cruel tyrant, Ken really didn't like blood much. 

The immortal's screams roared painfully through his ears and Ken was sure he was going deaf. At last it seemed he was almost crazy with pain when Ken kicked him away. The vampire landed awkwardly on his side and remained there, clutching his face and still shrieking. Ken made sure he still had the cross while he limped over to where Takeru was. The blonde looked to be in shock. 

"You... you... you..." he stuttered, looking pale and shocked. Ken found himself too tired and weary to talk to him and explain and simply went over to where Daisuke lay. The redhead looked alarmingly white and far too still. Unease churned in Ken's stomach as he stared down at him, the blood drying on his face and collar. He ignored it as he fell to his knees. 

"He's not dead," Takeru told him, his tone shaky and quiet. Emotion pooled from his voice. "Not yet, anyway. He still has a pulse, but it's too weak. Unless we do something, he's going to die." 

"Blood loss," Ken remarked absently. "The vampire drained him to the brink of death. Unless I'm really wrong, there's a chance Daisuke's outside of himself by now. I'm going to have to find him and bring him back." It wasn't something he was looking forward to doing, but there was no way he was losing Daisuke, not now. 

"What about the blood?" Takeru asked, still not entirely convinced. "How can we cure that?" It wasn't that he didn't want Daisuke to be cured, but it seemed so hopeless... 

"I'm a healer," Ken told him curtly. "Let me worry about that." And there was a lot for him to worry about. The chances of bringing Daisuke back were slim to never-possible. He handed the cross to Takeru. "If the vampire wants some more abuse hurled at him, you know what to do." 

Takeru stared at the cross as if it had come alive. "What?! But--" 

Ken wasn't listening to him, not really. "For _once_, don't argue." Takeru shut up. With a critical eye, Ken brushed his fingers across Daisuke's face, looking at every part extremely carefully. He hissed and grimaced as he found the bite on his neck, which was still inflammed and tender-looking. Takeru got the impression that the vampire was going to regret biting Daisuke a _lot_. 

Ken continued to brush his fingers across his face before both of his hands rested on Daisuke's temples. There he took several deep breaths and calmed down, before taking a strand from his magic and shoving it into Daisue, taking himself along with it. For a moment there was simply nothing and he was just floating on air... then things began to spin and jumble and he was falling... 

When he opened his eyes, he was surrounded by grey and mist. 

* * *

Daisuke was aware he was gradually losing it and didn't really care at that point. His only thoughts were, _I'm not going to get out of here. I'm going to be stuck here for God knows how long._ He stared in front of him without really seeing anything and it was extremely slowly that he realised Osamu had stiffened and was looking at an approaching ghost with intense dislike. Curious despite himself, he turned and stared along with Osamu. And then could _only_ stare as he got one of the biggest shocks so far. And he had seen a lot so far. 

The ghost coming towards them _looked exactly like him_. Daisuke swallowed and took a step back, unable to stop himself from openly staring. What the heck was going on? He turned and glanced at Osamu. "Who's that?" He resisted the urge to add, 'And why the hell does he look like me?!' 

Osamu looked at the approaching ghost again. Then he said one word: _"Daiseus."_ Daisuke presumed it was his name. It sounded a bit like his own for that matter. He couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing. The ghost was so like him, that if Daisuke had been a few years older, they could have been twins. 

The ghost nodded in acknowledgement as he stopped before them. _"Osamu."_ Then his eyes flickered to a wide-eyed Daisuke and he said, _"Daisuke."_

"Yeah?" Daisuke replied without thinking and then cringed at how that sounded. 

But the second ghost didn't seem to mind. _"They said you were here and they were correct."_ He seemed pleased. _"And now I can help you."_

Both Osamu and Daiske stared at him. "Help me?" Daisuke managed to choke out. "How... this doesn't involve making me truly dead, does it?" Just to make sure. 

Daiseus shook his head. _"No,"_ he replied. _"If everything goes to plan it will mean you will be completely alive again."_ Daisuke visibly brightened at that, for obvious reasons. 

"What do I have to do?" the digidestined asked, still wary despite himself. 

Daiseus held out his misty, grey hand. _"Touch my hand."_

Daisuke stared at him. "Uh... how do I do that exactly? You're dead." 

The ghost made an impatient sound, which only made Daisuke even more confused. _"Put your hand through mine!"_

"Oh." Sheepishly, Daisuke reached out with his hand and then stopped. "What's this going to do exactly?" he asked, knowing he was going to be yelled at for this. 

Daiseus looked like he would have throttled him if he'd been able to. _"I will give you the power to return to your mind and your body!"_ he snapped. _"Does that satisfy you?!"_

Daisuke looked at him sheepishly. "Yeah, yeah it does. Sorry." Ignoring Daiseus' huff and Osamu's chuckle, he reached out again. This time his hand passed through Daiseus' misty one. Daisuke grimaced before he could stop himself. It wasn't uncomfortable exactly, but the sensation was odd. It felt cold and clammy and Daisuke had the wild urge to scratch his hand but didn't, knowing better. 

And then the power was building and he squeezed his eyes shut as his stomach began to heave again. Could it do that, if he wasn't technically in his body? No time to ponder, for he had the falling sensation yet again. He felt everything disappear around him and he pitched forward, barely swallowing his scream as he went tumbling down into nothing, 

The breeze that shouldn't have been there whipped around him as he fell and he had the feeling of his clothes and hair being blown around but how could it, if he wasn't in his body? This was so confusing! But then a new problem arose, as Daisuke found himself not stopping, instead just continuing to fall. Was this supposed to happen? "Is this supposed to happen?!" he yelled above the roaring breeze, fighting down his panic. 

Daiseus didn't reply, not exactly. What Daisuke did hear was his muttered remark of, _"I need more power!"_ Daisuke didn't like that, it meant things weren't going as they were supposed to be going. And those type of things _always_ went wrong. Altogether, it didn't look good. 

Then, despite all the wind and the pain and the general panic, he felt something else. Something that felt vaguely familiar brushed against him and Daisuke found himself shivering. It felt smooth and cool, like wind, but there was still an underlining feeling of hidden warmth. It resembled the personality of someone he knew very well... realisation hit him like a punch in the stomach. The moment he realised who it was, they were both tossed into a telepathic link. 

_~Ken!~_

_~Daisuke!~_

Joy filled Daisuke as he realised there was someone there who was going to help him, or at least try. _~Ken, you're here!~_ A pause and then... _~How did you get here anyway?~_

Ken radiated dry amusement. _~I'll tell you later. Are you all right, or at least, are you still altogether?~_

Daisuke figured this meant was his mind all in one piece and he replied, _~Yes, I'm altogether and I want **out**!~ _

Ken chuckled. _~Then out you shall have!~_ He seemed overjoyed and while that was great and all, Daisuke couldn't help but feel a tiny bit embarrassed, but he hid it well. Then he remembered Daiseus, who was still trying to get him back together. 

_~Ken wait!~_ he cried and he felt Ken's surprise at the emotion in his voice. Or rather, the panic. _~We can't go yet!~_

_~Why?~_ Ken asked, and had his question answered, but not by Daisuke. 

_~Because of me,~_ Daiseus said quietly, his mental voice low and solemn. 

_~Who are **you**?!~_ Ken demanded and Daisuke fought the urge to roll his eyes at the suspicion in his mind voice. 

_~Ken, relax,~_ he told him firmly, and heard Daiseus chuckle absently. _~This is Daiseus and he was helping me get back to my body before you came up. He can do it but he needs more power...~_ He let his sentence trail off, hoping Ken could sense the pleading in his voice. He could. 

_~I suppose I could join my power with yours and we can get both Daisuke and myself back into our bodies,~_ he sighed, sounding none too happy with the suggestion. Daisuke cheered as Daiseus rumbled agreement. 

For a moment there was nothing, only the thrum of the different powers and then there was a whistling wind as there came a vaguely wrapping sound and then Daisuke could only squeeze his eyes shut as he went toppling downwards once more, but this time things felt more in control than before. Through the tears that were leaking from the force of the winds he was plummeting through, Daisuke thought he could see his own still body looming before him. It was coming closer and closer to him, growing bigger with every passing second until Daisuke knew he was going to hit it. 

He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to bear watching the impact. There was a sharp jostling motion and then for a moment nothing... 

...and then all Daisuke could feel was the pain of his body as feeling returned and his eyes snapped open. 

* * *


	15. Shining Light

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Fifteen: Shining Light

**

_I hurt,_ was the first thing that went through Daisuke's mind. _Ow._ After several moments of blinking his eyes, the redhead finally managed to haul himself up to a sitting position. He found himself blinking again, partly due to the fact that his vision had gone double. He reached up to rub his head and groaned. There was definitely a headache beginning in his head. Great. He was in the middle of rubbing his eyes when the scream ripped through the air. 

_What?_ Daisuke's eyes snapped open and he looked around to see something that chilled him to the bone. For Takeru was on the ground, frantically reaching for the cross a few feet away, and still trying to fight off a most unhappy Erik from tearing his throat out. The blonde was fighting not to panic, but it was obvious from his expression that he was very near hysteria. 

A faint moan came from beside Daisuke and he looked over to see Ken rising to his knees and looking slightly dazed. "That really hurt," the dictator muttered, rubbing his head and looking sincerely pissed off. 

"Uh, Ken?" Daisuke murmured, tapping him on the shoulder. He looked at him with questioning blue eyes. Daisuke wordlessly pointed at the struggling Takeru. 

Ken followed his finger and his gaze landed on the blonde and vampire. "Shit," he hissed, struggling to his feet and holding out a hand for Daisuke. The redhead took it with a surprised look and Ken pulled him up effortlessly. Seemed like _he_ wasn't tired at all. Or maybe he was just good at hiding things. Yeah, that seemed likely. 

"Okay, not to sound as stupid as I feel... but what do we do now?" Daisuke asked. "Not to be selfish or anything, but I really don't want Erik anywhere near my throat again." But he kind of wanted Erik away from Takeru -- away from all of them in fact -- fast. 

Ken was frowning and looked to be in one of his infamous 'thinking stages'. Daisuke waited impatiently, tapping a foot repeatedly on the ground. At last, just when he was about to scream in frustration, Ken spoke. "I have an idea." Without saying anything else, he held out his hand to Daisuke. The redhead stared at it for a moment, before shrugging and putting his hand in Ken's. He gasped when sparks flew from his hand to Ken's and back again. 

He stared at Ken, at a complete loss as to what was happening. "Uh... explanation?" His voice sounded amazingly calm as he said this and he allowed himself a brief moment of pride for his achievement before getting back into things. 

Ken, on the other hand, seemed pleased and staisfied, a faint smile tinging his lips. "It's just as I thought," he said, making no sense whatsoever. "We can defeat him together." His smile was broad this time. 

Daisuke gave him a doubtful look. "Are you sure?" he asked, sounding very unsure. "In case you haven't noticed, we've been run through the mill so to speak and I _have_ just come back from a near death experience. Although," he added, glancing at the now-snarling Erik, "he hasn't exactly been having a smashing time either." 

Ken nodded. "Exactly. And unless you want us all killed, I'd advise you to work with me." For a long moment Daisuke thought Ken was going to act like his old self again, but then the smile that quirked Ken's lips had changed to a mildly shy one. "Besides," he added softly, "you gave me quite a scare back then. I thought I'd lost you." 

It was the perfect time for a kiss. Unfortunately, at the time there was a raging vampire on the lose trying to kill Daisuke's best friend, so a kiss couldn't exactly be given. Instead Daisuke vowed to kiss Ken plenty after this was all over and they approached Erik and the frantically-dodging Takeru carefully. 

This also might have worked, apart from the fact Takeru managed to look up and see him. And judging by the fact Takeru had almost been out of his wits worrying that he might die, he naturally, had a reaction to Daisuke walking and being alive. Unfortunately it was at the wrong time. A _very_ wrong time. "Daisuke!" he cried, his eyes lighting up. "You're all right!" 

Daisuke fought the urge to groan as Erik whipped his head around. The vampire looked... well, bad. Daisuke found himself grimacing in disgust before he could help himself, and then realised a moment too late that Erik took things in offense very easily. "Shit," was all he managed to get out, before he went flying onto the ground to avoid Erik lunging at him, his emerald eyes wide and rolling. 

He winced as he hit the ground painfully, instinctively rolling out of reach. Struggling to his feet, he bolted to where Takeru and Ken were, the Kaiser coldly calming Takeru down and shutting him up from his hysterical ramblings. Although Daisuke couldn't blame him much -- Takeru was completely human without a drop of magic in him. Put him face to face with a starving, mad, power-hungry vampire and the guy was bound to go hysterical. 

"Okay... now that Plan A backfired, what do we do?" he asked, panting slightly. Great. He came back from the dead and he was sent running at the first opportinity. Then his panting became more painful as Takeru enveloped him in a bear hug. 

"I can't believe you're all right!" the blonde cried, looking... very near hysterics and exhausted. It was then Daisuke realised it was early morning and Takeru was probably shattered. Too much adrenaline was coursing through himself though, so hopefully it would keep him from collapsing until Erik was sorted out. 

Daisuke gave the seething Kaiser an apologetic look and patted Takeru on the back. "Yeah Takeru, I'm okay. Sorta." 

"He'd be a lot better if you weren't trying to block out his air pipe," Ken muttered icily, folding his arms across his chest and successfully managed to look pissed off and jealous all at once. Takeru pointly ignored him, still squeezing Daisuke. It appeared their momentary truce was well and truly over. 

_Aw, he's jealous over me,_ Daisuke thought in amusement, watching him. _Never thought I'd see him doing that._ Takeru possibly would have continued hugging him for far longer, unless a warning snarl from Erik hadn't rung out, tearing the two apart, Takeru looking terrified. Daisuke tossed a panicked look at a grim Ken. 

With a heavy sigh, Ken intertwined his fingers with Daisuke's, keeping a tight hold on Daisuke's hands. "Calm down," he ordered the redhead, who was clearly nervous. "If you don't keep calm we won't be able to do this." How the hell did Ken manage to keep calm so well? 

"But what _are_ we doing?!" Daisuke yelled at him, forgetting Takeru and Erik for the moment. "You won't tell me a damn thing! In case you've forgotten I _was_ your student once!" In all honesty it had only been yesterday, but so much had happened tonight it felt like an eternity ago. 

Ken growled in annoyance. "It'll take too long to explain! That's why I'm not telling you! Can't you just do what you're told for once?!" Takeru snorted in amusement. 

"You shoukd know me better than that!" Daisuke snapped and Ken made an exasperated sound. Takeru, for his part, was trying not to burst out laughing. 

"Uh.. guys?" he asked at last, and cringed at the furious looks Daisuke and Ken both sent at him. "As funny as your arguing is... that very angry vampire is charging at us again." Daisuke blinked. It seemed Takeru was now sort of calm, or perhaps their arguing had helped him to calm down a bit. Either way, he wasn't in hysterics anymore. And then his sentence finally hit Daisuke. _Erik was coming!_ He and Ken looked at each other and Daisuke sighed and took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Automatically, he closed his eyes, concentrating on his breathing, as Ken muttered words under his breath. Whatever it was, Ken still knew more than he did. In other words, it was Daisuke's job to shut up and do whatever the boy genius told him to do. 

A warm feeling blossomed inside him, spreading through him and making him feel extremely comfortable. Daisuke smiled, his eyes still closed. This felt nice. Then, gradually, the warmth became hotter and hotter and soon it was burning fire that _hurt_! Daisuke yelped and tried to pull away, but Ken kept an iron-tight grip on his hands. "What's happening?!" the redhead yelled, fighting not to do anything stupid. 

Ken didn't reply immediately, and Daisuke figured he was trying to keep whatever was happening under control. Typical. Then his voice entered Daisuke's ears, calm and under control, as always. "Why don't you open your eyes and see?" 

It seemed like a reasonable thing to do. Feeling slightly like a fool for the amount he had over-reacted, Daisuke opened his eyes, having not prepared himself at all for what might face him when he did. When his disbelieving eyes finally focused on what was happening before them, Daisuke resisted the urge to start screaming his head off. 

Ken had been teaching him in the ways of magic for months before all of this had happened. As a result, Daisuke had seen Ken do some pretty freaky things in the last few months. But nothing could compare to this. Perhaps it was because this time, he was being included as well. Either way, he still wanted to scream. 

Fire curled around their joined hands, twisting, crackling and burning. And yet their gloves remained normal, not even having the barest hint of flame on them. It was more than a little weird. It was almost frightening. The fire didn't just stay in their hands either -- it had curled up his arms as well. A quick glance confirmed Daisuke of what he had been afraid of... the fire completely surrounded every part of them. And their joined hands kept it that way. 

Part of him was tempted to jerk his hands away from Ken's, to just let this strange fire disappear. But he couldn't, for many reasons. While he knew Ken would most likely hurt him if he did, there was also the danger of Erik. They had to destroy him, now. If they didn't, there was a chance Daisuke would find himself back in the Ghost Roads along with Daiseus and Osamu. Osamu. Daisuke briefly wondered if Ken knew his brother's spirit wasn't at rest. 

Gritting his teeth and profoundly aware that sweat was streaming down his temples, Daisuke held on, his fingers aching from the intensity of Ken's grip. "How.. do.. we... do.. this exactly?" he managed to get out, trying to ignore the fact that he and Ken, to all appearances, were on fire. 

Before Ken could reply, an outraged roar got their attention. Both of them snapped their heads to the side to see Erik charging towards them. The vampire seemed to be almost psychotic, clawing at their fire cocoon and screaming when he couldn't penetrate it. Daisuke felt Ken tense, and saw his sapphire eyes had narrowed in anger. 

"When I saw three... toss the fire at him," was his order, and Daisuke nodded, even if Ken couldn't see it. The Kaiser would know he would obey anyway. 

"One..." 

As Daisuke looked out at Erik, a hot rush of anger suddenly hit him. What right had he, to do all this and cause this much trouble for them? What right had he to control him and make him do things he normally wouldn't? And what damn right had he to nearly _kill_ him?! Daisuke dimly felt his eyes narrow, as the fire around him churned with his own emotions. 

"Two..." 

The anger was barely controllable now, and Daisuke didn't even realise he was shaking because of it. All he knew was that he wanted Erik to pay, to pay so dearly that the vampire would regret the day he had ever decided to control him. _He would make him pay..._

_"Three!"_ Ken's yell pierced the air, seconds before the fire lashed out from them to slam into the vampire. For a moment Erik didn't react at all, instead staring at the flames licking at his shirt for a few moments, almost as if he couldn't believe he was really, truly on fire. Then it hit him and he started screaming, batting at the flames frantically. The sound was high-pitched, continuous, and _extremely annoying_. Ken grimaced and Daisuke screwed up his face in annoyance. Takeru groaned and clamped his hands over his ears. 

They watched, hardly able to take away their eyes, as Erik threw himself on the ground, trying to get the lethal flames out. But they were no ordinary flames from a match, and had spread quickly. Erik was doomed. Daisuke and Ken broke their fire link and both fell to their knees, panting from exhaustion and fatigue. Sweat dripped from them and trailed down their faces. The effort to make the spell work obviously hadn't been easy. 

But something wasn't right. Even Takeru, with no magical ability, felt it, rubbing his arms to try and get rid of the goose bumps that had appeared on the skin, looking around nervously. It took Ken and Daisuke a few seconds later to realise something was up and they were instantly alert, sick and tired of everything going wrong. Erik was still panicking, but his cries weren't as loud now and they purposely looked away when he fell. He wasn't doing this, that much was obvious. 

The air felt heavy, and it seemed like it should have been filled with fog, but there was none. Only the dark night sky stared down at them. Daisuke felt unease trickle down his spine and glanced over at Ken. The twilight-haired genius was looking around them, an annoyed frown tainting his lips. Clearly he wasn't pleased with what was going on. 

Then it happened... or to be more precise, then it came. 

At first, it was a slight breeze, only succeeding in ruffling their hair slightly. Then it got stronger. And stronger. Then it was a full scale gale. Daisuke lowered his head and dug in his feet, fighting to stay up with the wind blasting in his face. Did they usually get gales in the Digital World? He couldn't remember and he didn't think Taichi or the others had ever talked about gales. Although nothing that had happened in the past few days could ever be called normal. 

Then the lightning came, only it wasn't normal either. Typical. 

In fact, it was a deep, deep, glowing blue, even more startling then Ken's eyes, or Takeru's or Yamato's. _True_ blue. It snaked across the sky, the thunder rumbling in their ears and causing them to go half-deaf. Out of the corner of his eye, Daisuke could see Ken managing to stay standing and was following the lightning with his eyes. So was Takeru, but his face had gone pure white. He looked sick, even though he wasn't. 

Before he could even turn his gaze away from the blonde, blue filled his vision. Blue surrounded him, blue crackled up his arms and blue was him. He didn't hear Takeru's scream, nor Ken's cry of alarm. He didn't feel himself falling, but he did know when black replaced the blue. 

At the time he didn't know that a bolt of lightning had hit him, because it simply hadn't registered in his mind. There had been taller trees around them, so if any lightning had come near them, it would have been more logical for it to hit the trees instead of them. But the lightning wasn't normal, and so it didn't do normal things. 

When he opened his eyes, there were images in front of him. He didn't understand them at first, watching them in confusion, but as they flickered passed him, he understood what they were. Or perhaps something was silently telling him what they meant. They were connected to Erik, Erik who was now dead because he and Ken had burned him to death. Or was it his second death? Could vampires be considered dead? 

He could see things that had happened in Erik's life, things that he had done. He could see Erik as he had been, a human. He could see the beautiful, dark-haired woman who had seduced him. Then he saw her biting him, draining him, making him one of her kind. He saw Erik wandering, always alone, always hateful, despising humans and those more powerful than him. He saw the little girl of a king, saw her becoming vaguely friendly with Erik. Then he saw the vampire tearing out her throat and splattering blood across her blue gown. He saw Daiseus, who looked like an older version of him, who had helped Daisuke return to the living. He saw him meeting Erik for the first time, still dressed in his warrior uniform. He saw Erik carefully woo him, earning Daiseus's trust, making the warrior fall in love with him. Then he saw Erik kill Daiseus ruthlessly. And then he saw the druids who had captured Erik, thrown him into his prison of magic, stone and earth. He saw the clasp the chains around his wrists, the same chains that had weakened over time. He saw them, dressed in their curious robes, with the hoods shielding their faces from view. He saw the eerie torchlight flicker over them, as Erik screamed and cursed as they imprisoned him. 

He thought it would end there. There was nothing more to see, for everything after that had happened when Daisuke had unknowingly released him, without even realising it. But there was more, and what he had to see then was not comforting. 

He saw Osamu. Osamu Ichijouji. Ken's brother. Osamu, who had met him in the Ghost Roads. He saw the once genius battle through life, trying to keep up to his genius and perfect image and inside feeling only loneliness and pain. Then he saw Erik sense him from the Digital World and send out his power, weak as it was. He saw the power surround Osamu, slowly corrupting him. Then he saw Osamu cross the street, his mind obviously on other things. Erik had been doing that to him. He saw a younger Ken on the other side, watching him with a concerned expression on his face. Then he saw the car come out of nowhere, and then he heard a horrible screeching of brakes and a dull thump and Ken's frightened screams. Daisuke felt himself shudder, as he watched it all, unable to look away because he didn't want to. Part of him didn't want to. 

The next thing he saw was Ken coming to the Dark Ocean... yes, it was the Dark Ocean. The place where Hikari had gone to. He watched Ken dip his digivice (Daisuke noted his digivice looked like the old ones, like Taichi's) into the grey water and watched it change into the Black D-3. That was alarming enough, but that wasn't what Daisuke properly watched. He could see Erik's power surround Ken, corrupting him. The realisation was staggering. 

_Was Erik an Evil Force in the Digital World?_ Daisuke wondered, staring at the younger, corrupted Ken in horror. _He must have been what corrupted Ken into becoming the Digimon Kaiser._ Then a sudden thought hit him. _If Erik is what influenced him... now that he's destroyed maybe Ken will turn good again!_ The thought was very inspiring. Then his hand brushed something cold against his jacket. Not recognising it, he frowned and looked down -- and froze. 

It was the brooch he had found in the grass. Erik's brooch. 

He gasped, suddenly realising how Erik had controlled him. _Shit. Shit, shit, shit!!_ Horror spilled from him, as adrenaline poured through him, causing his nerves to go haywire. 

It was then Daisuke got jerked back to consciousness and found Takeru staring down at him, worry and concern filling his azure eyes. "Daisuke," he whispered, smiling down at him and brushing aside a few strands of red hair. "Are you okay?" 

Daisuke blinked for a few moments, as he tried to remember what happened. Then he croaked, "I've felt better." Takeru laughed, either from relief or hysterics. Possibly both. Daisuke smiled slightly, and tried to ignore the pain that was everywhere. It was then that he heard the groans. It sounded suspiciously like Ken. Daisuke's eyes met Takeru's and he struggled up to a sitting position. When he saw the state Ken was in, panic flooded him and he crawled over to the Kaiser. 

Ken was on his knees, bent over. He was groaning, his arms cradling his stomach. Sweat dripped from his face and his breath was coming in short, quick gasps. He looked about ready to be sick. For a moment Daisuke couldn't understand what was going on. Then he looked down and saw the ruby brooch glittering on his jacket. His eyes wide, he hissed, "I'm going to help you Ken." Then his gloved hands were fumbling with the brooch and it was off and he was drawing on the last reserves of his power... and then the brooch was dust. 

Ken tossed back his head and howled, as he slumped forward, his hands catching him before he fell fully onto the ground. As Daisuke and Takeru watched, wide-eyed, Ken began coughing and shaking uncontrollably. As they watched, Ken's clothes merged and rippled, turning grey... back to the Tamachi uniform he wore in the Real World. Metal cuffs fell harmlessly to the ground and disappeared. They could only stare as Ken's hair changed from his spikes and fell as a dark blue curtain to his shoulders. An... ordinary Ken slumped to the ground, breathing heavily. 

For a moment neither Takeru or Daisuke could say anything, only able to stare at Ken on the ground. And then the genius was groaning and rising to his knees. He stopped and stared at his hands in shock, his gloves gone. For a moment he froze, and then he was looking at them and Daisuke found pain and hurt in those sapphire eyes. He didn't know who spoke first, but their voices spoke together: "Ken" and "Daisuke". 

Takeru had possibly gone into shock, but then a glow caught his eye and he looked down at the grass in front of Ken. Daisuke and Ken automatically looked down then and a glowing pink light burst from the ground, as something rose up from the grass and floated in front of Ken. Takeru recognised it as a crest. It was a crest. Ken had a crest. Wow. 

As the seconds ticked by, they could only gawk at the glowing symbol, but then Ken had reached out with shaking fingers and his hand closed around the crest. "Mine," he whispered, sounding as if he could hardly believe it. "This is mine. My crest of Kindness." 

Takeru and Daisuke balked at him. "Yours?" Takeru exclaimed, beginning to see Ken in an entirely different light. He looked so... different. Not only in appearance, but he looked so...vulnerable... frightened. So unlike the Ken they had known as their enemy. It was strange. 

Daisuke opened his mouth to speak, but then the whispering of words overhead caught his attention and he jerked his head up to see two shining beings floating above them. He blinked, hardly able to believe this was happening. After everything that had happened to him, seeing two ghosts was something that put him in awe. Honestly. 

They floated down to them and Daiseus smiled at him. _"You did it Daisuke! You defeated Erik!" _The warrior who looked so much like him beamed broadly, and Daisuke found himself grinning back. Daiseus's humour was infectious. He completely forgot about the fact that Takeru and Ken might have found seeing two ghosts slightly unnerving. Daisuke was definitely back to normal... sort of. 

_"Thank you,"_ Osamu added softly, but his eyes were clearly on his younger brother. As he studied the second ghost, Daisuke realised Osamu had looked very like the Kaiser. Had this some significance? He put it to the back of his mind, turning to Ken. There, he realised there was a problem, and cursed himself for being so stupid. 

Ken was staring up at his dead brother with wide eyes and a desperately pale face. His breathing was odd and to Daisuke's untrained eye, it looked he was going to start going hysterical. That wasn't good, that wasn't good at all. He mentally kicked himself for not helping Ken more. To see his dead brother in front of him as a ghost would have been far, far more than a shock. It was going to bloody _traumatize_ him. Daisuke and Takeru watched him with wide eyes. 

Ken looked at his dead brother and screamed. 

* * * 


	16. Talking Things Through

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Sixteen: Talking Things Through

**

Ken's screams tore through the air, piercing shrieks that caused Daisuke and Takeru to wince and cringe, as the sounds pounded into their ears. Again and again Ken screamed, clutching the sides of his head with his hands, messing his twilight-hued hair and not even realising it. His eyes were painfully closed, giving his entire expression a look of despair and complete agony. Whimpering cries made their way up from his throat, as tremors wracked his thin frame and added to his vulnerability and his helplessness. 

Daisuke could only watch him in shock, hardly able to believe this was still Ken. The change was remarkable, as well as alarming. That this boy had been the Digimon Kaiser, self-proclaimed ruler of the Digital World, had been so cool and self-assured only a few minutes before was staggering, compared with what he was now. A boy, faced with all the cruelty of the things he had done, a boy, faced with a new life that suddenly seemed unnatural and so, so _different_. It wasn't exactly something he could just slip into. 

He and Takeru, to all appearances, seemed frozen for the next few moments, before Daiseus' glares jolted Daisuke out of his trance. He approached the screaming, hysterical boy carefully, not wishing to startle him and make things any worse than they already were. It was at this point that he wished he had once asked Jun what to do with crying girls. Ken was no girl obviously, but that advice might have given him more of an advantage than he had right now. And Jun had always told him he'd need to know what to do when faced with a crying girl one day. He was _never_ going to tell her she'd been right... sort of. He didn't think Ken would appreciate being referred to as a girl. 

"Ken," he said quietly, looking down at the boy on the ground. Ken was on his knes, rocking back and gently, tears trailing down his face in a rushing stream. In other circumstances it might have been funny that a boy of Ken's reputation was now on his knees sobbing shamelessly. But it wasn't funny and they all knew that. Ken had just looked up and seen his _dead brother_ above him, as a ghost. Daisuke was pretty sure that if he and Takeru had been faced with the same situation, their reactions would have been much the same. Altogether, it was one messy situation. 

Ken didn't give any indication that he had heard Daisuke, and didn't stop in his tears once. Daisuke knew if things had been normal he would have been offended, but he wasn't, for things _weren't_ normal. He didn't think they woud be normal for a long time to come, if ever. "Ken," he said again, his voice louder this time. 

Ken appeared to have heard him this time, and for a fleeting moment, red-rimmed sapphire eyes stared up at him, shining and large. Then Ken uttered another plaintive sob and buried his face in his hands again, sobs wracking his thin frame. Daisuke gave Takeru and the two ghosts a desperate look. What was he to do? The ghosts look just as lost as he did (they wouldn't have been able to do much anyway, but that was beside the point), but Takeru was making fierce motions with his hands. Daisuke watched these motions for a few seconds, completely lost, but then it finally hit him that he was supposed to comfort him. He stared down at Ken then, and wondered how he was supposed to comfort him exactly. This time he was the one lost and Takeru knew what he was doing. 

With an exasperated sigh and a roll of his eyes, the blonde Keeper of Hope, strode passed Daisuke and knelt beside Ken, for a moment doing nothing except putting a reassuring hand on Ken's shoulder, squeezing slightly. Daisuke and the two ghosts simply watched silently, realising Takeru actually knew what he was doing and he could do it well. Which meant that they watched and kept their mouths shut. 

Takeru simply spoke low, comforting nonsense (Daisuke would have bet his entire manga collection, that one of the things he had told Ken was that it was going to be all right. He _had_ to have said it!) to Ken and simply kept him reasonably calm. The blonde seemed quite unaware that he had a very attentive audience watching him. Daisuke took a mental note to later advise his best friend to go into a counselling career. 

This worked quite well for a few minutes, but then the last of Ken's control crumbled and he buried his face into Takeru's shirt, sobbing faintly. Takeru froze for a second, and then wrapped his arms around the sobbing boy in a comforting hug, murmuing nonsense to him that was often reserved for crying cases such as these. He simply kept Ken from doing anything stupid. Daisuke looked horrified at the state of Ken. If he hadn't known that Ken really and truly had been the Kaiser once, he would have burst out laughing in disbelief. The last thing the blue-haired boy looked like was a cruel dictator, once intent on world domination. 

So lost in his thoughts was he, that he didn't automatically notice that Takeru was signally to him until Daiseus caught his attention and gestured to the blonde. Having finally got Daisuke's attention, Takeru jerked his head, indicating that the redhead was to come over to them. At first Daisuke vigorously shook his head. He wasn't any help in situations like this. He was simply not tactful enough. Takru glared at him and jerked his head again, as Ken continued to sob into his shirt. Then Takeru nouthed the words that sealed the blackmail: "Ken needs you." Bingo. With a soft sigh Daisuke went over to them, kneeling on the other side of Ken and simply looked at the two of them. His expression clearly said, _So what do I do now?_

Takeru rolled his eyes and gently forced Ken to left his head. A pale, tear-stained face looked up at them, looking so lost Takeru and Daisuke felt their chests ache. "Ken," Takeru told him softly, "We want to help you. But we can't help you if you won't let us." 

"Why do you want to help me?" Ken asked in a choked voice thick with tears. "I was your enemy. I did terrible things. I tortured and captured innocent digimon and made them my slaves. I don't deserve your help." He looked heartbroken and miserable. Daisuke found himself thanking every deity he could think of that his own sister was alive and well and most certainly wasn't a ghost. Ken looked a wreak. 

Takeru wasn't fazed. "But you helped us," he pointed out. "You saved Daisuke and brought him back to life. You prevented Erik from killing me. We owe you Ken. The least we can do is help you. As for what you did as the Digimon Kaiser... well, only you can forgive yourself for that." Daisuke inwardly applaued Takeru for keeping his voice calm and level as he said that. He knew he wouldn't have been able to do that. 

Ken shook his head. "I still don't deserve your help," he insisted. Takeru and Daisuke blinked and looked at each other. It seemed Ken could still be stubborn, even now. They'd find out soon enough if that was a good or bad thing. 

Takeru simply sighed and glanced at Daisuke. "Whatever you say Ken," he said at last, rising to his feet and holding out a hand for the blue-haired boy. Ken hesitantly took it and came shakily to his feet, wobbling slightly. Daisuke immediately stepped up to them, giving Ken an encouraging smile. Ken simply looked away and Daisuke fought not to sigh. This was going to take time. 

Takeru didn't beat around the bush. "You have to face him eventually Ken," he reminded the fallen genius gently, his cerulean eyes full of sympathy. Daisuke decided Takeru definitely needed to consider counselling as a future career. He just had that _knack_. 

Instantly Ken's eyes filled with hurt and pain and Daisuke swore he could see the walls Ken slammed down around him. "I can't," he whispered, a panicked note entering his voice. "I just _can't_." The look in Ken's eyes turned to that of wildness, like a scared animal caught in headlights. Daisuke watched him, shocked and fascinated at the same time. "I'm frightened of him," he whispered at last. 

Up to this point Daiseus and Osamu had been quiet, watching the events unfolding before them with careful eyes. But it seemed at this Osamu simply couldn't keep quiet. _"Ken,"_ he said gently, floating down to them. _"You don't have to be frightened of me. I'm still your brother."_ He smiled reassuringly. 

But the reassurance in the smile was lost on Ken. The look in his eyes was still that of a frightened animal. Daisuke didn't know how much more of this he could take. The sight of Ken being like this was tearing him apart inside. "But it doesn't change the fact that you're _dead_!" he cried, looking heartbroken. "And it was my fault," he added hoarsely, another sob working its way up from his throat. 

Daisuke closed his eyes for a moment and remembered Osamu's death, when he had seen it after being hit by that lightning. Ken's screams had been as hysterical then as they had just been now. But he had seen nothing that would hint that it had been Ken's fault that his brother had died. In fact, it had all been Erik's doing. Opening his eyes, he asked quietly, his eyes serious, "Why is it your fault Ken?" Takeru closed his mouth, having been just about to ask the same thing. 

Ken looked over at Daisuke, and for the first time since everything had fallen apart, he _really_ looked at him. Watery sapphire-blue eyes searched pained umber ones, answers and questions passing freely between them. Then Ken ducked his head and whispered, "I wished he would disappear. I wished he would just let me alone... and he did. Only... only he wasn't meant to _die_! It was my fault, my fault!" Ken wrapped his arms around him and shivered, lost in the nostalgia of old, painful memories. 

Osamu looked down at his younger brother and shock filled his pale face. _"Ken, how can you say that?"_ he whispered, the shock on his face mirrored in his voice. _"That's not true at all! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and the driver was drunk and... and it was just one big mess." Osamu quickly ducked his head, but still continued. "But it wasn't your fault Ken, it was never your fault. That's the truth."_

"He's right Ken," Daisuke said suddenly, causing everyone to look at him. Daisuke fought to keep himself calm and level-headed. He could do this, for Ken he had to do this. "It was Erik. Erik killed your brother and turned you into the Digimon Kaiser." He winced inwardly at the shadow that passed over Ken's face at the mention of _that_ name, but he kept his eyes on the blue orbs, waiting for an answer. 

Ken stared at him, a slight frown furrowing into his forehead. "How could Erik have killed my brother Daisuke? Osamu was killed by a car... not by a vampire." Daisuke realised then that it was disbelief in Ken's eyes. He didn't believe him. The hurt followed by this wasn't really that bad, maybe because a little voice in his mind was telling Daisuke that Ken really wasn't acting like himself right then. 

Daisuke took a deep breath and started to explain. "When that lightning hit me and sent me unconscious --" At Daiseus' and Osamu's startled looks, he hurriedly said, "It's a long story." That done, he continued. "I saw... events from Erik's life. How he became a vampire, some of the people he killed." He let that sink in for a moment, before continuing again. "I saw Erik sense Osamu from the real world and send his power to him. He corrupted Osamu and constantly did whatever he wanted to do with him. Osamu didn't have a choice in the matters." He turned to look up at Osamu. "Am I right?" The ghost nodded, clear anguish filling his face as he remembered the memories himself. 

"But then... eventually Osamu was no more use to him anymore. And that was when he sent him out onto the road and kept his mind occupied so much that he forgot to look where he was going. And that was when the car came." Daisuke paused, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. Silence stretched, until Osamu finally spoke up. 

_"He's telling the truth Ken. That was what happened... that was how I died."_ Osamu glared at the ground, obviously damning Erik to hell. _"It wasn't your fault at all."_

"I see," Ken said slowly, but his expression was still troubled. He didn't look at any of them. 

"Then he moved onto you Ken." Startled, the blue-haired boy jerked his head up to look at Daisuke. "He corrupted you and changed you into the Digimon Kaiser. He convinced you that it had been your fault Osamu did and you became the Kaiser to take all the pain you felt inside out on something." While on the outside Daisuke looked calm and collected, inside he was a rushing mass of nerves as he awaited Ken's reaction. 

Ken didn't speak for several moments. His eyes grew dim and misty as he recalled memories that now pained him, for he had lived the outcome of them. Then he hung his head and his curtain of twilight-coloured hair became a shield. "You're right Daisuke," he whispered. "Erik whispered to me and told me it had been my fault Osamu died, because of the words I'd said. He told me the only way to get rid of the pain was to cause some myself." Tears filled Ken's eyes again. "But he was wrong!" 

Takeru, who had been watching this silently for the last few minutes, stepped up beside Ken and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder again. When the boy turned and looked at him in surprise, Takeru smiled gently at him, clear azure eyes looking straight at him. "I think you and Osamu need to talk," the Keeper of Hope told Ken. "You have many things to sort out and talk about and it wouldn't be easy with us around, as they're probably very personal." Takeru turned and gripped Daisuke by the arm. "We'll be nearby if you need us," he told the brothers, one alive and one dead. 

"Daiseus," Daisuke murmured to him. The dead warrior looked at him patiently. "Keep an eye on them, make sure nothing bad happens again." Daiseus nodded and Takeru started to drag Daisuke away, but suddenly the redhead dug in his heels and nearly sent Takeru toppling onto the grass. "Hold on," the Keeper of Courage and Friendship declared, causing everyone to look at him in surprise. "One question before we go." Osamu and Ken looked at each other, before looking at Daisuke, confusion mirrored on both of their faces. 

"You," Daisuke began, pointing at Daiseus, who blinked, "and you." At this he pointed at Osamu, who also blinked, wondering what on Earth Daisuke was going on about. "When Daiseus first came to me in the Ghost Roads, you didn't like him _at all_ Osamu. And yet now you too are like good friends." Daisuke crossed his arms and glared at the two ghosts. "So what gives?" 

For a moment neither of them responded. And then both of the ghosts were laughing, making the three humans stare at them in surprise and confusion. Osamu was the first to recover. _"I know Daiseus well, possibly because it was Erik who killed us both. Naturally, we're both slightly bitter as a result of this and we're often cold to each other sometimes. It passes quickly. It's usually just scorn for the other because we both fell into the same trap involving Erik."_ Osamu smiled at Daiseus. _"Isn't that correct?"_ The warrior nodded, a smile on his own lips. 

Daisuke stared up at them both, looking at them as if they'd just sprouted more heads. "Oh," he said at last. Takeru groaned in frustration, grabbing Daisuke by the collar and dragging him away. They dimly heard him muttering about how insane he was to be best friends with this boy. 

Ken never fully told anyone what he and his brother talked about, but he looked like a large weight had been lifted from his shoulders when they came back to him later. In short all of the guilt and anger about his brother had been lifted from him. But there were still shadows in his eyes, and they knew the guilt over what he had done as the Digimon Kaiser was far from gone. It would be the Digidestined who would have to help him with that, and it would take time. The difficulty was going to be tripled as they first had to convince the others that Ken was now changed. They weren't going to be thrilled with Ken joining them, but Takeru and Daisuke were determined to help him. But that is for later. 

While the discussion between Ken and Osamu is not going to be shown in depth, apart from the telling that it all worked out happily for the two brothers, the discussion between Daisuke and Takeru is going to be shown, for they had much to sort out and talk through. The silence was at first awkward, due to the fact that Takeru found himself remembering that Daisuke had found Ken on top of him in a most suggestive manner, and Daisuke was still afraid that Takeru was going to kiss him. It was incredibly nerve-wreaking, as you could understand. 

Then Daisuke said quietly, staring down at his hands in fascination, "I know you and Ken weren't doing anything when I walked in on you two. I just... I jumped onto conclusions because I was in a rotten mood, thanks to Erik's influence on me." The moment this apology and explanation left his lips, Daisuke stared down at the ground as if his life depended on it. 

Takeru didn't reply immediately, also looking anywhere except at Daisuke. Then he answered, "I burst in on Ken and lunged at him." The blonde hung his head in shame, a faint colour spreading across his face. "I was just so mad and angry because you'd chosen Ken over me. I couldn't see that you'd never liked me as anything more than a friend." A bitter smile twisted Takeru's lips. "I was an idiot." 

Daisuke didn't know what to say. Then he grinned suddenly, part of his old humour returning. "Actually you were a jealous idiot," he corrected. Takeru groaned and punched Daisuke lightly in the shoulder. While they laughed for a while, Daisuke's expression eventually sobered. "Actually _I_ was the idiot. I was so oblivious, I should have seen something was wrong with you! I should have seen I was the cause of it!" Daisuke grimaced, furious with himself and his foolishness. 

"Hey," Takeru chided him gently. "I should have been more careful and had better control over my emotions. Plus I shouldn't have followed Yamato or Hikari's advice and told you how I felt in the first place." He frowned and then jumped upon Daisuke's squawk of outrage. 

"_You told them_?!" he yelled, looking at Takeru like he'd just announced he was going to move to Europe and dye his hair neon green. "How could you tell them?!" He groaned and burrowed his face in his hands, embarrassed beyond belief. 

Takeru sighed and rolled his eyes, not very impressed with Daisuke's dramatic display. "Calm down Daisuke," he told him sternly. "Besides I _didn't_ tell them. They knew already. Unlike you, they weren't as oblivious to how I acted towards you." 

"Oh." Daisuke blinked and as was trademark to him, recovered immediately. "Okay then." He started to fidget then, as he didn't know what to say next. He couldn't really think of anything to say. Apparently Takeru could however. 

Taking a deep breath, the blonde muttered. "Besides... I can't come between you and Ken again. I'd be making a huge mistake if I did." 

For a few moments, Daisuke thought he'd heard wrong. Had Takeru just said he couldn't come between them again? Had he just said it was a _mistake_? The redhead gawked at his friend, hardly able to believe his ears. "Oh..." It was the only thing he could think of to say. 

Takeru laughed then and he brushed Daisuke's cheek for a moment. "I saw what you two did when you burned Erik. It was almost like you two created a supernova. If you could do that together... then I'm simply not in the picture anymore." A flicker of sadness passed over his face. "Not that I ever was." 

"Don't say that!" Daisuke cried, grabbing Takeru's wrist and forcing him to look into his eyes. "You are my best friend, that's never going to change!" When Takeru didn't reply, Daisuke gripped his wrist so tightly the blonde jerked in pain and surprise. "Is it?!" Daisuke asked, not bothering to hide the desperation in his eyes. He couldn't lose Takeru now, not after everything that had happened. 

For a long time they simply stared into each other's eyes, trying to find answers to questions they weren't sure they wanted to be answered. And then Takeru sighed heavily and looked away. "I still like you Daisuke," he murmured softly. Daisuke looked at him in surprise, even though he'd already known that. You just didn't stop liking people in one minute. What was surprising was that Takeru had admitted it so openly. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't. It's going to hurt to see you with _him_." He didn't have to clarify who 'him' was -- they both knew. 

"Of course it will," Daisuke replied quietly. Takeru blinked. "As vain as it sounds, I'd have been offended if you'd suddenly stopped liking me." Takeru groaned, and Daisuke laughed. 

"I wouldn't have expected anything more of you," Takeru admitted, smiling slightly, but the sadness hadn't left his eyes yet. 

Daisuke squeezed his wrist in reassurance. "But I know how strong you are. You'll get over it, eventually. It'll take time, but you will. I know it." 

Takeru only shrugged. "I'll have to, won't I? I'll only look stupid still pining after you." The bitterness in his voice alarmed Daisuke, who wished things didn't have to be so complicated. Nor did he want to upset Takeru anymore than he already was. And he was fairly upset. 

"I'm sorry," Daisuke whispered, suddenly realising all the guilt he had inside himself because of what he'd done to his best friend. If only he'd seen it sooner. 

"So am I," Takeru replied wearily, rubbing his face hard, as if he could wipe away all his problems. 

"This isn't fully sorted out, is it?" the redhead asked suddenly, after a depressed silence. 

"Nope," Takeru agreed, shaking his head. "It's far from sorted. But we've made a breakthrough and that's good enough for the moment. I guess we'll have to start off again when we get back home and things have returned to slight normality." 

"We're going to have to stick up for Ken as well, when the others find out what's happened." Daisuke made a face, realising all the work that was ahead of them. "They're not exactly going to welcome Ken with open arms as a digidestined. We're going to be the only ones on his side right now." 

Takeru sighed as well, realising all the work ahead of them as well. "You're right. But Ken's changed now and we're just going to have to show everyone else that. It's obvious he was very different before he became the Digimon Kaiser. He got the Crest of Kindness after all." 

Daisuke nodded. "Yep." Then he stopped, listening intently. "Do you hear anything?" 

Takeru also stopped, listening. After a few seconds, he said, "No. I hear nothing." 

"Is that a good thing?" Daisuke asked, not bothering to hide the worried expression on his face. "I mean, at least Ken's not screaming anymore, but..." He let his voice trail off, exchanging concerned looks with Takeru. 

Takeru stood up. "I think we better go and check up on them." Daisuke immediately bounced to his feet and the two hurried back to where they had left Ken and the two ghosts. 

What they saw when they arrived, made them both relieved and amused. Ken was sitting cross-legged on the ground, staring up at Osamu was floating above him. They were talking in low voices -- the reason Daisuke and Takeru hadn't been able to hear anything from where they were. Daiseus was watching them nearby, and the bored expression on his face was priceless. Daisuke grinned and Takeru bit back a laugh as they walked forward. 

Osamu was the first of the brothers to notice him. His pale face lit up in a broad grin. _"Daisuke! I was just saying goodbye to Ken."_

"What?!" Daisuke stared up at the ghost, absolutely flabbergasted. "Why?! Where are you going?" 

Daiseus floated over to them. _"Daisuke, we're technically dead. We can't reside in the land of the living, even in the Digital World. We have to go back."_ His face was serious and they all knew he was telling the truth. 

Whether this was the truth or not, Daisuke's face was still dismayed. "You mean you're going back to the Ghost Roads?" The thought of Daiseus and Osamu spending the rest of time in those depressing roads and that world of greyness was not a cheerful one. 

But Osamu was shaking his head and Daiseus was smiling. _"No Daisuke,"_ the warrior said. _"Erik killed us and it was because of our unwillingness to forgive ourselves, for making the mistake of getting involved with him that prevented us from moving on. But Erik is dead and we are finally able to forgive ourselves."_ Osamu's smile was broad now. _"You helped us Daisuke and for that we thank you."_

Daisuke stared up at them, his brown eyes wide. "Oh." It seemed to be the only thing he could say right then. "I see. Well..." Then a silence descended upon them, but it wasn't tense nor was it comfortable. With a sigh, the leader of the Digidestined stepped forward. "Well, I guess this is goodbye then." He fought to keep his voice from cracking. "I'm going to miss you two." 

_"A remarkable thing to say, considering we met you when you were almost dead,"_ Daiseus remarked dryly. Then he smiled at the redhead and winked at him. _"Although I have to admit, meeting you was an experience Daisuke."_ A fierce blush spreading across his face, Daisuke realised suddenly that Daiseus liked members of his own sex. 

"It's a pity you're dead," he said quickly and Daiseus raised an eyebrow at him. "You should have got with Takeru!" Osamu and Ken burst out laughing, while Daiseus stared at Daisuke and then at a fiercely blushing Takeru. The blonde in question looked about ready to die, or hit Daisuke, whichever came first. 

_"I think this is where we go,"_ Osamu said wisely. Looking down at his brother, Osamu smiled, looking typically like an older brother. _"I never thought I'd get the chance to talk to you again Ken, and tell you all the things I should have told you years ago."_ Ken smiled up at him, his own eyes watering. 

"I'm glad too," the once-Kaiser replied softly, and gave his brother a trembling smile. "I'll never forget you Osamu." 

_"I should think not!"_ Osamu replied sternly and then winked at him. Turning his gaze to Daisuke, the ghost said, _"And I have you to thank for letting me see Ken again. If not for you helping Ken to kill Erik, Daiseus and I would have been unable to come here."_ He paused and then continued slowly. _"And we apologise for letting that lightning strike you. It was a mistake on our part."_

Daisuke spluttered, completely outraged. "You _let_ that lightning hit me?!" Ken and Takeru started laughing and didn't bother hiding it. 

_"And thank you as well Takeru."_ The blonde looked up, startled that Osamu was addressing him. _"Thank you for helping my brother when he was slightly... irrational." _Takeru nodded, his eyes wide. _"It was a pleasure meeting you."_ Another nod. 

"It was a pleasure meeting you too," Takeru finally managed to say, after getting his voice back. Daisuke made a mental note to use that against him later. 

The light didn't come immediately, as they had expected it to. Instead it came very gradually, creeping up on them. The moment it touched Daiseus and Osamu however, it erupted into a light that vaguely resembled a supernova. The three humans had to haul their arms up in front of their eyes, their eyesight unable to deal with something that bright. It grew brighter and brighter, filling the Digital World with amazing light. Daisuke wondered later if he had actually heard a humming noise or not. Watching the brightness for a single moment, before his eyes protested wildly and he had to cover them again, the redhead swore he saw wings arch from Daiseus and Osamu. But then the light was gone, so suddenly it was like a candle being snuffed out. Daisuke and the others put down their arms again, blinking as sun spots darted across their vision from the sudden change from brightness back to darkness once more. Or a rapidly lightening twilight. 

Moments later, the sun spilled over the horizon and a new day dawned in the Digital World. A day that might have never come if they hadn't done their job and destroyed Erik. Daisuke smiled as he looked over at Ken and Takeru, who were watching the approaching dawn. It was a day of new beginnings. 

* * *


	17. New Beginnings

**Ghost Roads**

**Disclaimer:** Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine. 

~*~

**

Part Seventeen: New Beginnings 

**

"I can't do this." 

Daisuke stared at Ken in a mixture of fascination and amusement, hardly able to believe this boy had once been the fierce Digimon Kaiser. The two were so different, it was staggering. And even 'good' Ken had split personalities it seemed. The sobbing boy who had come alarmingly close to a nervous breakdown was nothing like the shy, quiet boy now pacing before him. "Ken, you _can_ do this. I know you can." 

Ken stopped in his pacing for a moment to look at him. Daisuke shuddered inwardly at having those sapphire eyes look at him directly. They were a deep, true blue. "I'm glad for your vote of confidence," the once-Kaiser told him with a wry smile. "But after everything that's happened, everything I've done..." He trailed off, a troubled expression on his face. Immediately he started pacing again. 

Daisuke sighed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Walking over to Ken, he gripped his wrists and forced the boy to stop in his pacing and look at him with startled eyes. "Ken, you have to stop acting like this," the redhead told him gently. "We've been over it already." 

Ken shook his head, stubborn as usual. "I can't just forget it like it was something insignificant," he pointed out. "The Digimon Kaiser was me for a long time Daisuke, in fact he still is. He'll never truly leave me and you know it. I have to get over this and the only way I can do that is by forgiving myself. And that's going to take time." Ken's eyes softened, as he said, his voice slightly tender now, "But I appreciate it that you want to help me." 

Daisuke sighed. "Of course I want to help you Ken. I care about you, it'd be weird if I didn't want to. And we have Takeru on our side as well," he reminded him. "He's going to stick up for you as well, when we meet the others later." 

Ken grimaced and shuddered. "I know," he muttered. "And I appreciate his help as well." But it was obvious he was nervous about meeting the other Digidestined later. Daisuke quickly wrapped his arms around him and Ken automatically leaned his head against his chest, sighing softly. At least with Daisuke he knew things were all right. With him Ken felt safe and often felt like he could do anything with the redhead at his side. 

"It's going to be okay," Daisuke murmured, stroking Ken's soft twilight-coloured hair gently. "We'll get through this together, like we did with Erik." He paused, considering his words. "Well... Takeru actually included himself in the thing with Erik, but that's beside the point," he amended, causing Ken to laugh suddenly. "Although Takeru probably wishes he hadn't got involved in the first place." 

"Probably," Ken agreed, snuggling into Daisuke's shirt and jacket and sighing contentedly. "Although did I get the impression that Takeru was slightly star-struck with my brother? Or was it just my imagination?" 

Daisuke chuckled then. "No, Takeru was definitely star-struck!" he laughed, eyes amused. "It could have been because your brother was dead and technically a ghost. But... if I didn't know any better I'd say Takeru could have had a crush on him!" 

For a moment, Ken blinked, letting this bit of information sink in. Then he said flatly, "Takeru will have a fit if you ever tell him that." 

"Yeah," Daisuke agreed. "Remind me to use it against him later." Ken laughed and agreed. "Come on, we better go and get this over and done with." Smiling, he kissed Ken quickly on the cheek and stepped back, waiting for Ken to get Wormmon to come with them. 

Ken leaned down and scooped Wormmon into his arms, cuddling the green worm close to him. Wormmon tensed for a moment and then purred, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of being rubbed by Ken. There were going to be tense times between the two of them (it wasn't easy for Wormmon to forget how Ken had treated him as the Digimon Kaiser), but they were going to get through it together. Daisuke were insanely proud of them for that. 

It was only a few hours since Daiseus and Osamu had left them. Soon after the three of them had returned to Ken's base, which, they noted, had seemed to become completely powerless. Nothing that Ken had been planning to use against them in the future was visible. His storage facilities and his disks were scatted throughout the place, and Ken had decided to return later to find and destroy them. His dungeons were a wreak, thanks to the Rings and Spirals placed on the captive digimon cracking and shattering. The digimon -- now themselves again -- had taken the smart motive and had crashed the place before escaping. Ken wasn't sorry to see the mess. A quick check on his monitors (those that still worked) had shown that all the captured digimon were now free. But the control spires were still up. They would have to be destroyed in the future, but Ken knew he would be ready. 

Takeru had quickly decided to go back to the real world and make sure Patamon and Chibimon were all right and hadn't raised the alarm with the others yet. At Daisuke's worried look, he had assured the redhead that he'd phone his parents and say he'd stayed over at his place the previous night, a sort of spur-of-the-moment thing. His own mother... he'd use the same excuse on her, only vice-versa. He'd also ask Patamon to check on Chibimon without being seen. He'd also told them that he'd get the rest of the team together that evening, and he'd wait for them. He'd also make it clear to Ken that he'd support him that evening along with Daisuke. Ken had been hardly able to believe it, but had thanked Takeru profusely. Smiling, the blonde Keeper of Hope had left in search of a Digi-port, letting Ken and Daisuke alone. 

They had searched for Wormmon first, and the green worm hadn't known what to believe when he had seen Ken, completely free of his Kaiser alias and so unlike himself. The green worm had become overjoyed when he had realised Ken had returned to the boy he had once been and forgiveness had come almost immediately. But they had all known there was still a long way to go yet between them. There were still a lot of open, tender wounds to be healed yet. 

Daisuke had been hesitant at first when he had first suggested Ken returning to his home and relieving his frantic parents. Ken had been completely against it at first, claiming to not being ready to face his parents yet, after the way he had treated them. But Daisuke had pointed out that it would just get worse the longer he put it off and the longer he put it off, the more worried his parents would get. He had also told Ken about the huge search his parents had begun for him and Ken could hardly believe the amount of trouble his parents had gone for him. Daisuke had tactfully replied that perhaps they hadn't wanted to lose another son. This, aided by Wormmon's encouragement, had finally made Ken decide to come home. 

So here they were, walking towards the Digi-port Takeru had no doubt earlier used himself. As they walked, Daisuke took it upon himself to instruct Ken on what to do with Wormmon to keep him out of his parents' sight when they got back to the real world. He knew Ken needed this advice because he had never taken Wormmon to his home before. And the boy didn't seem to be able to do a lot of deep thinking yet. Daisuke had decided he was still in shock and made a mental note to go research stuff like this with Takeru in the library. Besides, the blonde was seriously starting to consider a career in counselling (which would no doubt flummox his parents and Yamato), so he'd agree to go with him anyway. 

"Now, when we get back Wormmon will probably revert back to his In-Training form which is...?" Daisuke paused as he awaited Ken's answer. When none came, he looked at him to see Ken's upset expression. "What did I say?" 

Ken sighed, looking extremely upset. "I don't know what Wormmon's In-Training form is," he murmured quietly. Wormmon's antennae drooped. "He was already Wormmon when I first met him and I... never let him revert back to that form because..." He stopped and Daisuke, sensing he didn't really want to talk about it yet, swiftly started talking. 

"Well you'll find out soon enough," the redhead said logically. "Anyway, it'll be safe to say he'll be smaller than he already is, so you'll be able to hide him in a bag or something." Daisuke's lips pursed for a moment as he thought. "Or you could pose him off as a stuffed toy, which is what we usually do. If Wormmon can stay completely still that is." 

"I can try," the digimon said, looking up at him with large, pale-blue eyes. Daisuke smiled and gave him a thumbs up sign, before looking up and grinning. 

"Digi-port ahoy!" he yelled, immediately starting to run towards it. Ken simply stared at him for a moment, before rushing after him, smiling slightly. 

"One question," Daisuke asked suddenly, as they stood before the small TV. Ken and Wormmon looked at him, blinking. "Do you still have magic?" 

Ken blinked, staring at him, before raising one hand, making sure Wormmon was securely in his other arm. Concentrating on his hand for a moment, Ken was pleased to see sparks suddenly leap from his fingers. "I guess I do," he said, smiling at Daisuke. "I think the only reason I can't manage anything more than sparks is because I'm tired." 

Daisuke grinned broadly at him. "All right! Uh... are you still teaching me then?" 

Ken stared at him again. Finally he said, "Well... I don't know. Do you want me to?" 

Daisuke suddenly became embarrassed, fidgeting slightly. "I'd like you to..." 

"Then I will." At Daisuke's surprised look, Ken smiled. "Can't get rid of me that easily Motomiya." 

"I should think not!" Daisuke shot him a mock-offended look, which caused Ken to chuckle lightly. "Hey Ken?" the Keeper of Courage and Friendship asked then, becoming very embarrassed, trailing his boots in the dirt and looking down at the ground as if his life depended on it. 

"Hmm?" Ken looked up from investigating his D-3 and wondered silently why Daisuke looked like he'd become sunburnt on his face. 

"Erm... what about us as well? That is.." Daisuke began to splutter, much to his embarrassment and dismay. His blush deepened, but before he could continue, Ken had stepped forward and had placed a finger on his lips. 

"I think you already know the answer, don't you? But just in case..." Ken smiled and leaned forward, touching his lips on Daisuke's. The chaste kiss rapidly deepened, and Daisuke wasted no time in wrapping his arms around Ken and pulling the boy to him. They remained in a world of their own until Wormmon's panicked yelps and struggles became apparent and they separated, Ken apologising to a furious Wormmon for almost squashing him. 

Daisuke laughed and slung an arm around Ken, causing the blue-haired boy to blush slightly. "That was _definitely_ a good answer," the redhead told him, grinning wickedly. There were still many things to sort out and things weren't going to be great for a while. Ken was going to have a hard time adjusting to life again, now as a digidestined and not as the Digimon Kaiser. There was going to be the whole thing of Ken meeting his parents again and trying to get over the things he had done. It was going to take him a long time to forgive himself for what he had done, and to find that same forgiveness from the digimon he had forced into slavery. There was also going to be the task of meeting the other Digidestined, who were not going to be happy letting Ken into the team. But Daisuke knew he was going to be on Ken's side, and so was Takeru. With their help and Wormmon's faith in Ken, he knew things were going to get better eventually. It would take time, but they would get better. 

Grinning, the Digidestined of Courage and Friendship held his D-3 up to the TV and shouted, "Digi-port open!" Then there was only the delirious feeling as he, Ken and Wormmon were sucked in and thrust back into the Real World, to begin their lives again. Still in one piece. 

+ Fin +


End file.
